


A House is Just a House

by baked



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-13
Updated: 2012-11-13
Packaged: 2017-11-18 13:43:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 37,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/561697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baked/pseuds/baked
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jensen is a miserable college student who has been recently dumped. His friend's take it upon themselves to cheer him up by taking him to a gay bar where he's introduced to Jared, an employee. An unlikely relationship blooms and they spend a spring break back home in Texas together where they realize just how important they are to each other when their trip takes a turn for the worst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A House is Just a House

**Author's Note:**

> There is mention of child prostitution but it is very brief and not at all explicit.

“I cannot believe you brought me to a gay club.” Jensen groaned, sinking low into the nearest empty booth. The club was dark and loud, there were crowds of people at each of the tables nearby, regular customers along with guys dressed in skin tight clothes, muscles working underneath the thin, and sometimes shiny, fabric. Jensen could not believe his friends thought bringing him here after being dumped by his long-term girlfriend was a good idea. 

  
“Come on, Jen, we know things didn’t work out with you and Lisa for a reason,” Chris said eyebrows raised high.  
  
“So, I’m gay because I got dumped?” Jensen asked unamused, he sat with his shoulders turned inward and head low, not making eye contact with anyone other than his two friends.  
  
“Easy cowboy, nobody said you were gay. We just thought we’d spice it up a bit,” Jason interjected placing a heavy hand on Jensen’s shoulder, “We’re here to support Chad too.”  
  
Jensen shot a wide eyed look at Jason, “What about Chad?”  
  
“Oh come on, don’t act so surprised. You knew he got a new job. Look there he is,” Chris said pointing across the room. And sure enough there was Chad, chatting up a table of guys, dressed in skin tight blue shorts and suspenders, only suspenders.  
  
“I am so out of here,” Jensen said trying to push his way out of the booth but both men sat firmly on either side of him.  
  
“You really need to relax. We are not going to set you up with Chad.”  
  
“You’re not going to set me up with anyone!” Jensen yelled, furious and embarrassed. Chris and Jason just looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Jensen slumped back in the booth and closed his eyes, he could not believe where he was and that his so called friends brought him here. And to make things worse, Chad was at their table in no time.  
  
“Well look who we have here,” Chad crooned, Jensen opened his eyes to find Chad not only wearing those tight shorts and suspenders but also dark eyeliner and gloss on his lips. Jensen’s stomach twisted in discomfort. This was so not where he wanted to spend the evening and this was so not something he ever wanted to see Chad in.  
  
“We’re just here to watch, take it all in, see how your new job is going,” Chris started, “Jensen, here, however, is really interested.”  
  
“Is that so?” Chad teased.  
  
After shooting Chris a death glare he spoke calmly and in complete seriousness, “I am going to kill you.”  
  
The three other men burst out laughing sending Jensen reeling.  
  
“Assholes,” Jensen muttered under his breath.  
  
Chad scanned the room for a minute then turned back to the guys with a mischievous look on his face, “Jensen, I have the perfect,” he paused searching for the perfect word that wouldn’t set Jensen off, “friend for you. He’s a great person. Trust me, I have your back.”  
  
Jensen let out an abrupt laugh, “Yeah, you sure do Chad. Just like you had my back prom night when you went home with my date or how about the night of my 21st when you kept pouring drinks down my throat ‘til I was shitfaced and I woke up with that girl with the homemade tattoos?”  
  
“It’s not like you were going to fuck Cindy Collins on prom night, I was doing you a favor. And your 21st was your fault....okay no that was my fault but hey! What an experience, right?” Jensen rolled his eyes. “But trust me on this.”  
  
Chad turned and disappeared into the back of the club.  
  


  
Jared spotted him before Chad even went over to talk to them. There was something about him that Jared noticed, all buttoned up, lips tight in a line, shoulders hunched. But he was also more, this guy was beautiful, even from a distance. The cut of his jaw and the shape of his eyes stood out amongst everyone in the crowded club. The way he was dressed was also kind of hard to miss with his khaki pants and a fucking sweater vest over a nice shirt and was that a tie? Truth was Jared couldn’t take his eyes off the man and felt something, felt like he should go talk to him, he felt drawn to him. He was about to make his way over when Chad got there first, figured he’d have to wait until Chad left with one of the others, probably the straggly haired one, that was usually Chad’s type.  
  
Jared watched as Chad talked to them, all but the pretty one laughing. This dude had a serious stick up his ass, or better yet, needed a big stick up his ass, something Jared was totally willing to provide, even if it wasn’t in his job description. Chad turned and looked around the room until his eyes landed on Jared, he turned back, talked for a moment then headed in Jared’s direction.  
  
“Hey man,” Chad said approaching Jared, “So, I have a favor to ask of you,” Jared turned up his head and looked down at Chad through suspicious eyes. “Chances are you’ll like it though,” Chad clarified.  
  
“I’m listening.”  
  
“Okay, so a couple of buddies of mine showed up, want to check out the new place I’m working, one of them just got dumped and well he needs to loosen up.”  
  
“And what do you want me to do?” Jared asked.  
  
“Ease him into it?” Chad asked raising his voice with each word. “It won’t be easy but that’s why I came to you, you’re the best.”  
  
“Who’s payin’?” Jared asked, this is a business first and foremost.  
  
Chad let out a chuckle, “His friends will pay up and you’ll get it after, I swear on my life.”  
  
“You know I don’t do that, Chad. Money upfront every time,” Jared said with slight annoyance.  
  
“That’s why I said this was a favor to me. You’ll get your money, I swear. Just not in front of the guy, okay?”  
  
Jared let out a heavy sigh, he didn’t really like the sound of it, “Before I say yes, which one?”  
  
A wicked smile played across Chad’s face, “The one with the glasses who looks like he’d rather be getting a root canal.”  
  
The pretty one, Jared thought.  
  
“You get me my money or I take it out of your ass,” Jared said with a shove. “Get him to the bar, alone. I’ll go from there.”  
  
“Thanks man, I owe you.”  
  
“Like hell you do,” Jared smirked.  
  


  
A text from Chad told Chris to get Jensen to the bar alone. “Alright big guy, since you’re so psyched to be here looking at all the dudes, why don’t you go get us a round of beers?” Chris said with a pat to Jensen’s back. Jensen grumbled, got up and headed to the bar.  
  
“Well, that was easy,” Chris laughed as he watched Jensen make his way to the bar.  
  
When Jensen reached the bar he looked up and down the counter, no bartender in sight. “Great,” he mumbled as he leaned against the cool counter and started devising a plan to murder each of his friends before the night was over.  
  
“Rough night?” a deep and calming voice spoke from beside him. He turned around quickly to come face to face with a very tall and towering man dressed in tight leather pants that left hardly anything to the imagination, and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and the first few buttons undone exposing his tanned skin underneath. He had long chocolate brown hair that fell in waves framing his face. His eyes were stunning under the lights. Jensen took notice to the man’s hands that lightly gripped his beer bottle and Jensen shook his head to clear his mind of what those hands might be capable of.  
  
Jensen cleared his throat, “Yeah, I’ve got assholes for friends,” The words escaped his mouth before he could pull them back in.  
  
The corner of the man’s mouth smirked up just a hint and Jensen felt the man’s gaze all over his body making him extremely self-conscious. The man licked his lips then raised his eyes to Jensen’s sending chills throughout his whole body.  
  
“Let’s go somewhere quiet, you know, to talk,” the man suggested.  
  
Jensen stepped back a bit, “No, I have friends that are waiting. I should probably just go.”  
  
“Those your friends?” The man asked nodding slightly in the direction of Jason and Chris, “They look already occupied, to me.”  
  
Jensen looked over his shoulder and sure enough not only Chad was sitting with them but so were two other guys Jensen didn’t recognize.  
  
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered under his breath. Now he had to decide to go sit at an over crowded booth with his asshole friends or go someplace quiet with a total stranger.  
  
“So?” the man asked, still waiting for an answer to his offer.  
  
“Buy me a drink first,” Jensen said with surprising confidence. He not only surprised himself with that response but the other man too who looked at him approvingly that sent Jensen’s heart racing.  
  


 

“Deal,” Jared said before calling to the bartender who had reappeared since Jensen first got up there, “Two shots of whiskey please.”  
  
The bartender nodded and Jared turned his attention to the pretty one again, “You look like you could shoot some whiskey.”  
  
He reached up and tugged at the tie tucked into his sweater vest. The pretty one immediately pulled back and Jared realized that touching was not going to go over well with this guy. So, Jared offered a warming smile, grabbed one of the shot glasses the bartender had brought and threw it back burning his throat on the way down. He watched as the pretty one brought the shot glass to his even prettier lips and tipped it back drinking it down like it was nothing.  
  
Jared extended his hand, “Jared.”  
  
The pretty one tentatively looked at Jared, “Weren’t we going to go someplace quiet?”  
  
“By all means,” Jared said with a smirk, dropping his hand and headed towards the back of the club to one of the private rooms.  
  
The back room was even more dimly lit than the club area and the nervous tension tripled rolling off the pretty one’s shoulders. It was like what little confidence he bestowed he had spent at the bar and now he was a ticking time bomb of anxiety. Jared tried to put him at ease, “Don’t worry, I won’t touch...unless of course you want me to.”  
  
The pretty one shot him a glance with wide eyes and a bit of a frantic shake to his head.  
  
“Like, I said, only if you want me to. But for now, let’s just talk,” Jared watched as the other man let out a tiny breath of relief. Jared walked over to a cushioned chair in the corner and patted it then walked to the other end of the small room so that the man would be more comfortable. The man walked over and sat with his feet firmly planted on the floor, hands clasped together between his knees and shoulders slightly turned inward, uncomfortable and defensive.  
  
“So, what’s your name, darlin’?” Jared asked full of charm. The man’s eyes darted around the room, Jared had seen it before, the man was about to lie.  
  
“Uh,” he cleared his throat, “Uh Paul. My name is Paul.” _Paul_ quickly looked to the floor.  
  
“Well,” Jared started, how incredibly boring of a name, he thought, “It suits you.” _Paul_ slowly raised his eyes until they met with Jared’s and he gave him a comforting smile.  
  
“Look, sugar, this is just fun. We’re just here to relax, have a good time. And I know lots of ways to have fun. Even a few ways to have fun without touching, so stop worrying.”  
  
 _Paul_ immediately interjected, “I’m not a virgin you know!” The outburst caught Jared by surprise and it took every ounce of strength not to laugh in the man’s face. And he could tell by _Paul’s_ face that his outburst came to a surprise to him too and he immediately regretted it.  
  
“Okay, wasn’t tryin’ to imply nothin’,” Jared assured.  
  
“I just mean, you know, I’ve slept with women before,” _Paul_ rubbed a hand to the back of his neck and Jared knew exactly where this was going.  
  
“But that’s not what you really want is it?” Jared asked dark and husky. _Paul_ squirmed uncomfortably in his seat, not making eye contact with Jared, “It’s not what you think about late at night, when you’re lying on your bed, hard against your belly.”  
  
Jared made no motion to move, in that moment  it was just about letting the words crash over _Paul_ , drown him in thoughts and desire. “You think about something bigger, stronger. You think about muscles and firm arms wrapped around you, holding you down. You think about letting it all go and letting someone else take over.”  
  
Still standing on the other side of the room Jared told _Paul_ to look at him. _Paul_ kept his eyes perfectly trained on the concrete floor in front of him.  
  
“ _Paul_ ,” Jared started very authoritative, “look. at. me.” _Paul_ slowly raised his eyes to meet Jared, “Now keep them on me,” Jared cooly demanded, “I’m trusting you.”  
  


  
Jensen watched as Jared slowly turned his back and began peeling his shirt up and over his head letting the muscles of his back move and shine under the dim light. His back gleamed with sweat on tanned skin, perfectly sculpted. Jensen had never seen anything so stunning, his heart hammered in his chest and the fear he’d been experiencing all night intensified. He wasn’t afraid of being in any danger, his fear was of not being able to control himself and Jared was making it even harder.  
  
Jared peeked at Jensen from over his shoulder and Jensen felt like he’d been caught, his cheeks burned and he could only imagine that they were rosy. Jared didn’t stop though, just smirked and turned his eyes in front of him. Jared placed his hands on his sides moving them down to rest on his own hips. He swayed a bit like he was moving to music only he could hear. He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his tight leather pants and pulled them down a bit to reveal the top part of his perfectly round ass.  
  
Jensen’s stomach dropped, anticipation pooled deep in him and he couldn’t help but let out a tiny groan. Jared brought his hands to the front of him, blocked by his body from Jensen but Jensen saw soon enough when Jared turned around. Standing right there on the other side of the room Jared stood with his hardened cock in his hands. Jensen had never seen anything like it. If he was being honest, it was the first penis, other than his own, he’d ever seen in person in a very, very long time. Flushed red with blood, soft skin just wanting to be touched. His mouth began to water and he had to take a few deep breaths to regain his composure.  
  
Jared lazily stroked himself as he stood there, giving Jensen a moment. Then he walked over to the counter, pulled his pants the rest of the way off and lifted himself up, keeping one leg dangling and the other bent up at the knee with his foot resting on the counter. Open wide for all of Jensen to see.  
  


  
Jared watched as _Paul_ took it all in, trying hard to keep his eyes on Jared’s chest but temptation took over and before long he couldn’t pull his eyes away from Jared’s hand pumping away on his erection.  
  
“Is this what you do when you’re all alone at home, not thinking about the women you’ve slept with?” He watched a breath get caught in _Paul’s_ throat, “It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me.”  
  
Jared continued on moving his hand up and down his dick while he brought his free hand to his mouth. _Paul’s_ eyes trailed the movement and watched as Jared put two of his fingers into his mouth swirling his tongue, wetting them. He pulled them out with a pop. Keeping his eyes on _Paul_ , Jared circled his hole a few times before pushing in with a hiss.  
  
“Oh god, _Paul_ ,” he moaned as he sunk his two fingers as deep as they would go, “feels so good.”  
  
 _Paul’s_ eyes shot up to Jared’s at the sound of his name and Jared gave him a tantalizing smile.  
  
And like that, Jared continued to work, running his hand up and down his shaft as he worked himself open all while occasionally moaning _Paul’s_ name softly.  
  
Jared was getting close and he knew _Paul_ had to be rock hard inside his pants but before he could say anything he realized Paul had already moved his hand and placed his palm against his erection.  
  
Jared slowed the pace for a moment and spoke, “It’s okay, you know, you can do it in here,” he said motioning with a nod. _Paul_ froze dead in his tracks and tore his eyes away from what Jared was doing to glance down at his crotch in horror. It must have been an absent minded reflex, _Paul_ didn’t realize he had been doing. Color stained his cheeks and he brought his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose before fixing the glasses perched there.  
  
Jared couldn’t help but smile, he really enjoyed making _Paul_ squirm in his chair. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall while he continued quickening the pace. He pictured what it would look like to have that tightly wound body of _Paul’s_ completely undone, stretched out across his bed, writhing in pleasure from Jared’s touch.  
  
“Mmm _Paul_ ,” he groaned as he looked at _Paul_ through half-lidded eyes, “I’m going to come, I’m going to come so hard for you. That’s okay, isn’t?”  
  
 _Paul_ licked his lips absentmindedly and nodded his head slightly. One, two more pumps and Jared came all over his chest and belly. For a moment he just sat there and breathed, running his eyes over the man in front of him, still sitting feet flat on the floor, hands clasped between his knees but deep desire and want in his eyes.  
  
Jared’s wasn’t done yet, he took a finger and ran it through the come on his belly before bringing it to his lips to taste. Jared watched as _Paul_ took in a deep breath while he licked his finger clean.  
  
Jared got up from the counter, pulled his pants on and tucked himself in. On his way to the door he grabbed his shirt and threw _Paul_ a glance, “See ya around... _Paul_.”  
  


  
For a moment Jensen just sat there, every nerve in his body standing at attention and he felt like he was going to snap if he didn’t relieve some tension. He scanned the room for a trashcan and when he spotted an old cup he figured that would have to do. He made his way quickly over to it, unzipped his pants and pulled his achingly hard cock out in record time and had himself coming in minutes. He stood there, one hand firmly pressed against the wall, holding himself up and the other lazily stroking himself waiting for his breathing to fall back to normal. Jensen tucked himself back in, smoothed out his clothes, fixed his tie, reset his glasses and stood up straight.  
  
He walked out of the room and right past his friends still sitting in their booth, he didn’t stop when he heard them call after them and it took them a minute to catch up with him outside.  
  
“So, Jen tell us what happened in there!” Chris exclaimed and Jensen shot him an evil look.  
  
“Nothing happened, we just talked but I’m tired and I want to go home,” Jensen barked shoving his hands in his pockets, turning his face down and started walking home with a huff.  
  
Jason put his hand on Jensen’s shoulder which he immediately shrugged off, “Come on, you can tell us! The guy looked pretty damn happy when he came out.”  
  
Jensen stopped dead in his tracks and turned on his heels so he was looking straight at his friends, “You saw him?”  
  
“Course we saw him! You really think we were going to take you to a place like that and not keep our eyes on you the entire time? Come on, we may be straight but we know how pretty you are.”  
  
“Fuck off,” Jensen grumbled and continued walking.  
  
The guys followed, “Look man, we’re sorry but admit it, it was fun. And hey it got your mind off Lisa didn’t it?”  
  
“Does it look like I’m having fun? Seriously guys, just leave me alone tonight. I played along but I’m tired and I just want to go home and go to bed.”  
  
The guys stopped walking and were quiet for a minute before calling out to Jensen, “Alright man, see ya tomorrow.”  
  
Jensen made the rest of the way to his empty apartment. He took a shower where he got himself off to the images of Jared, he laid in bed watching something mindless on tv but his thoughts continued to fall back to Jared. He got himself off again, coming dry this time and rolled over to bury his face in his pillow.  
  
He was unhappy and he hated himself for feeling the way that he did. He wasn’t upset for losing Lisa, he was upset because he really didn’t care. He wasn’t upset that he had assholes for friends, he was upset because their plan worked and now his mind was full of Jared.  
  
Jensen lay face down hugging his pillow, he couldn’t stop the feeling of dread in his belly. He tossed and turned all night with the image of Jared at the front of his mind.  
  
  


  
Jared couldn’t believe it when the next night he saw _Paul_ at the bar alone again. This is why he took money upfront, in front of the customer’s eyes because if not, they get the wrong idea and think he’s doing it for free because he wants to. Some don’t seem to realize this is a business, this is how he pays his bills. Jared did his best to go unseen but for Jared it’s pretty impossible because of his height and in no time _Paul_ was making a beeline for him.  
  
Jared let out a frustrated sigh, “Not tonight. I’m all booked.”  
  
It was a lie, he’d just finished with a client and wasn’t ready to go home yet but he didn’t want to set this guy up. _Paul_ just looked him in the eye like he was calling his bluff and said lowly so only Jared could here, “Look, I know you get paid to do this, I’m not an idiot,” And he pulled out a wad of cash. Jared was not expecting that but a devilish grin played across his face and he pulled _Paul_ into the nearest open room.  
  
Once inside the room Jared couldn’t help but notice the total difference in _Paul’s_ demeanor from the night before. There wasn’t any fear or anxiety but instead anxiousness like he couldn’t wait for them to start whatever it was. Jared decided to treat him like any other customer, because he was, Jared reminded himself. He was just any other customer.  
  
Jared slowly walked up to the man, almost nose to nose, looked down and asked, “What can I do for you tonight?”  
  
A shudder went through _Paul’s_ body and he took a step back rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “I, I don’t actually know. I don’t usually do this.”  
  
Jared followed to where _Paul_ had walked to and whispered, “Can I touch you?”  
  
 _Paul_ stood frozen, unable to move under the breath he felt on his neck from Jared. He gave a very tentative nod, Jared would have missed it had he not been keeping his eyes on _Paul_ the entire time. Jared slowly lifted his hands and placed them on _Paul’s_ shoulders trying to absorb any tension there might be. His shoulders immediately sank, relaxing underneath the weight of Jared’s hands.  
  
Each customer is different and it’s Jared’s job to pay attention and pick up what it is they need. Some just want a blowjob, some like Jared to throw them around, get in their face and put his hands on them a little too hard, some just like to watch Jared dance or get himself off. Then there are some clients, like _Paul_ , who are very reserved and confused and they’re a bit harder to figure out.  
  
Jared moved his hands down the sides of _Paul’s_ arms and then let go, “Why don’t you sit again?” Jared offered pointing to the couch. _Paul_ obliged and sat down. Jared took his chances and instead of going to the other side of the dimly lit room and sitting on the counter he took a seat on the other end of the couch from _Paul_. _Paul_ shifted uncomfortably in his place but Jared stayed where he was.  
  
“So, tell me, _Paul_ , what’d you do last night after you left here?”  
  
“What? Why do you care?” _Paul_ asked defensively.  
  
Jared lounged back on the couch, resting his arms on the back of the couch, his right hand barely grazing the broad shoulder of the other man. He sat with his legs wide and such a complete contrast to _Paul_ who was sitting just like he was the night before, feet firmly planted on the ground, hands clasped tightly tucked between his knees.  
  
“You know what I did?” Jared asked ignoring _Paul’s_ response, “I went home, took a nice, hot, long shower, soaped myself up good, slick.” He let his words roll off his tongue like smoke. “It felt real good.” He paused and let his head fall to the side so that he was looking up at _Paul_ , “I bet you showered too when you got home. I bet we were both naked and wet at the same time last night.” He watched as _Paul_ licked his lips and took in a deep breath. Jared let his mind wander for a moment on where he’d like those lips to go.  
  
Before Jared could let his mind wander anything further _Paul_ was on top of him, straddling his legs and his mouth hot on Jared’s. For a moment, Jared got lost in the kiss, in the feeling of the other man on top of him, feeling out his mouth with his tongue. Something sparked deep within Jared and he wrapped his arms around _Paul_ , pulling him closer. It was unlike anything Jared had ever experienced before, he didn’t want it to end.  
  
But then, just as the kiss got deeper, more intense, both men realized what was happening and _Paul_ jumped off, face completely stricken in horror. Jared watched as he brought his hand to his face and covered his mouth, all the color draining from his face. Jared wanted to reach out and sooth the man but he continued to back away until he hit the wall by the door. With a shaking hand he felt behind him until he reached the doorknob, he turned it and in an instant he was gone.  
  


  
Jensen ran from the club, completely disgusted that he had even gone back there. Once outside he didn’t slow his pace, he just kept on running until he made it all the way home to his apartment. Sweat made his clothes cling to him, he was hot and desperately needed a drink. He went to the fridge and pulled out a beer taking a long pull from it.  
  
He didn’t want to think about tonight, he didn’t want to think about how Jared’s lips felt on his and how he had been thinking about what it would be like to kiss him from the moment they met at the bar the night before. He also didn’t want to think about how strong his arms felt wrapped around his back or how solid his thighs felt beneath Jensen. He didn’t want to think about any of that. Even more so, he didn’t want to think about how drawn to Jared he was, how even now if he was being honest with himself he’d be right back at the club just to be around Jared.  
  
Jared was starting to drive him crazy and Jensen didn’t like it. He vowed to himself to never go back to the club again. Ever.  
  
Jensen chugged the rest of his beer, took a shower, and went to bed hoping that by some miracle, when he awoke he’d have forgotten all about Jared.  
  


  
Something happened that night, something that had never happened with a customer before. There was a moment where Jared forgot he was on the job, he forgot that he was being paid, he forgot that he wasn’t supposed to be feeling anything. But he did. And now Jared was home laying on the couch with a dog smushed between him and the back of the couch. They’d been lying there like that for awhile with the tv on not really watching it. Jared really needed to sort out whatever it was going on inside his head right now.  
  
What was it about this guy that made him so different from all the other clients he’d had? Jared couldn’t figure it out, sure the guy was beautiful and he seemed smart enough, but there had to be more for Jared to be drawn in so much. Jared let out an aggravated groan, got off the couch and headed to bed. He figured if Paul--yeah _Paul_ , god Jared didn’t even know his real name. Anyway, Jared figured if he came in again he’d just tell him no. Jared needed to cut this off at the source before it got any worse.  
  
The next morning Jared took his dog out for a walk, they made their way through the park, up the canal and ended up at a coffee shop. He ordered from the outside vendor and found an empty table on the patio. His dog laid at his feet while he sipped his cup of joe in the cool morning air when someone caught his eye. Coming out of the coffee shop in his khaki pants and ironed button-up shirt was none other than the person he’d been hoping to avoid forever. _Paul_ turned and headed in Jared’s direction, unknowing Jared was there and he would have walked right past him if it wasn’t for Jared’s dog, Sadie, who softly barked at him. It startled him enough he almost spilled his coffee down the front of him. At first Jared anticipated _Paul_ was going to send his dog a disapproving look but instead he saw his face totally soften and smile, like Jared had never seen him do before. It was beautiful. Then _Paul_ trailed his eyes to Jared and that sweet, smile quickly faded into complete shock.  
  
“Sorry, Sadie gets excited sometimes. Didn’t mean to startle you,” Jared offered and _Paul_ just blinked at him. Sadie barked again, wagging her tail hoping for some attention. _Paul_ let out a quiet laugh and if Jared thought the smile before was beautiful then this laugh was stunning.  
  
And suddenly Jared regretted this dog walk immensely.  
  
“It’s okay. I uh, I like dogs. Do you mind?” he gestured to the dog and Jared nodded, “By all means.”  
  
 _Paul_ set his coffee down, crouched near Sadie, let her smell his hand and then generously pet her until she was rolling around on her back with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.  
  
“She must really like you,” Jared said genuinely impressed with how happy _Paul_ was making his dog.  
  
 _Paul_ cocked his head to look at Jared, “Isn’t it a little early for you to be out and about?”  
  
Jared mocked insult and replied, “Ouch, low blow insulting my line of work seeing as how that’s where we met.” Jared wanted to take it back the second he said it because immediately _Paul_ stopped petting his dog, stood straight up, softness in his face disappeared.  
  
“Right. Sorry,” _Paul_ offered weakly. The situation hit Jared like a ton of bricks and he couldn’t help but laugh and the harder he tried to stop laughing the harder he laughed.  
  
“What are you laughing at?” _Paul_ asked sounding annoyed.  
  
“No, it’s not you, it’s not you,” Jared started in between laughs, “It’s just, I never run into people I meet at work,  ya know? This never happens. But then this morning my dog had to choose you, of all people, to bark at. I’m sorry, it’s just ridiculous,” Jared continued to laugh for a bit and _Paul_ just shook his head.  
  
“Please, sit. Finish your coffee. My dog is going to be all moody once you leave so you should stay for a bit.”  
  
 _Paul_ stood hesitant for a second, looked around debating whether or not to stay. Jared breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he chose to stay and sat down across from him at the tiny table. Sadie immediately jumped up and put her doggy chin on _Paul’s_ thigh expecting more pets. He obliged happily, pet her and that soft smile popped at her again, only for her though which left Jared feeling a little disappointed.  
  
“So,” Jared started, “where were you headed?”  
  
“Campus, I attend WSU.”  
  
“Really? Huh.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Nothing, I just go there too but I’ve never seen you around.”  
  
 _Paul’s_ face completely dropped at that piece of information.  
  
“What?” Jared asked slightly confused.  
  
“You’re in college?”  
  


  
“Don’t sound so surprised,” Jared grumbled, he slouched a bit in his seat and looked out at the street.  
  
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, I am surprised I guess. I don’t know,” Jensen paused and when Jared didn’t speak he apologized, “I’m sorry, that was rude of me.”  
  
Keeping his head pointed at the street Jared looked at Jensen through the corner of his eyes, “Whatever,” Jared smirked. “Can’t stay too mad at a guy my dog is in love with. Jesus, Sadie look at you. You act like you never get any attention at home.”  
  
Jensen was quiet for a moment, really just enjoying the morning sun and the adorable dog at his feet, he also really didn’t mind sitting here with Jared even if it was a bit awkward because of how they knew each other.  
  
“So, WSU? What’s your major?” Jared asked breaking the silence.  
  
“Broadcast Journalism. What about you?” Jensen answered, not expecting the surprised look on Jared’s face, “What?”  
  
Jared shook his head, “Nothing, I don’t know, I guess I was expecting something nerdy like History or Math,” Jared paused, thinking for a second, “I take it back. My major is actually pretty nerdy now that I think about it.”  
  
Jensen laughed, “And your major is?”  
  
“Civil Engineering. Building bridges and airports, shit like that.”  
  
“Ah, my friend Chad was doing engineering before he dropped to general studies,” Jensen paused for a moment, connecting the dots, “Is that how you know Chad?”  
  
“That’s how I know Chad,” Jared answered.  
  
“Are you the one who got him to work at the club?” Jensen asked, the words coming out a bit louder than he intended.  
  
Jared’s mouth twisted into a little smile, “Yeah, well, he was talking about having money problems, you know how Chad is, spends more than he makes. I figured, he’s outgoing and has a nice enough body that he’d work well there,” Jared paused leaning in slightly and quieting his voice, “And you know, he really fucking loves it and he’s good at it. Makes almost as much as I do probably.”  
  
Jared leaned back putting his hands behind his head never taking his eyes off Jensen who only stared back.  
  
“So, Civil Engineering, huh? Sounds impressive, probably why Chad dropped out of the program.”  
  
“Ha, yeah but I can only afford to go part time so who knows when I’ll actually graduate.”  
  
There was a lull in their conversation, Jensen took a sip of his coffee, Jared checked his phone.  
  
“You originally from Washington?” Jared asked.  
  
“Nope, Texas. Came here for school. The only school that I got accepted to that had what I wanted.”  
  
“Texas? No way! I’m from Texas too,” Jensen just shook his head in disbelief but that soft small smile was evident on his face again.  
  
“What made you move?” Jensen asked.  
  
Jared took a moment, squinted up at the sun then spoke evenly and distant, “Moved out here with my mom and younger sister. My dad was kind of an asshole.”  
  
Jensen scrunched up his nose, “Sucks.”  
  
“Yeah, well. That’s life. But I don’t want to talk about that,” Jared leaned back in his chair stretching his arms above his head, his thin tshirt rising to show bare skin. Jensen couldn’t help but let his eyes fall there.  
  


  
Stifling a yawn Jared asked, “Are you going to be a late? Weren’t you on your way to campus?”  
  
“Oh, well I won’t be late. I was just heading there to get some studying done before class this afternoon. I work better when I’m not in my apartment,” Jared watched as _Paul_ made no movement to get up and leave so Jared decided to try his luck.  
  
“I have to take Sadie home before I head to campus myself. Wanna walk with me? It’s not far,” Jared wasn’t totally sure why he was inviting a total stranger over to his house, especially one that he had been trying to avoid, but he couldn’t help but feel that fate was on his side today and that maybe something good was going to come out of this awkward meeting.  
  
 _Paul_ stiffened at the suggestion, lips tight in a line and Jared was positive he was about to be shut down.  
  
“Uh yeah, sure,” _Paul_ said followed by a hard swallow.  
  
Neither knew what the hell was going on but neither wanted to do anything else at the moment. Jared offered a smile and started getting his things together, _Paul_ threw their empty coffee cups away. They walked back through the park talking about what classes they were taking and found out they had taken the same English class the year before just at different hours. Jared learned that _Paul_ also had a younger sister but she still lived in Texas. _Paul_ told Jared that he worked at the university’s radio station, Jared didn’t even know their university had a radio station, which just made _Paul_ laugh and Jared couldn’t help but relish in the warmth that spread throughout his body at that.  
  
“Most people don’t know but we’re trying to change that,” _Paul_ went on to explain, “We started airing podcasts that students can listen to online and have even auctioned off air time to local musicians who want to get their music heard live. I mainly work on the technical stuff, making sure everything is working properly, setting everything up.”  
  
Jared was really enjoying listening to him talk so passionately about something that he so obviously loved. Jared could tell it wasn’t something he got to do very often because when _Paul_ glanced at him he shut up almost immediately.  
  
“Hey, don’t stop on my account. I think it’s cool you’re so into it,” Jared confessed.  
  
 _Paul_ shrugged, “Yeah I don’t know. I’ve just always liked radio and news shows since I was a kid.”  
  


  
They made it to Jared’s house, Jared led them inside, Sadie happy to be home, running circles around them until Jared told her to go lay down.  
  
Jensen didn’t know why he was there, he didn’t normally....he didn’t ever do stuff like this. Follow some stranger home, some stranger who he’d paid for in previous nights. But Jensen found it difficult to leave because bottom line, he liked being around Jared and by the looks of it Jared felt the same.  
  
“Nice place,” Jensen said looking around the messy house, definitely looked like a bunch of guys lived there. Mismatching furniture, various items scattering a beaten up coffee table, clothes hanging off the back of the couch, definitely lived in but Jensen liked it.  
  
“Well, it’s nice considering I share it with two other guys. No way, I could afford a place of my own.”  
  
“I hear ya, I rent a tiny studio apartment by myself and it’s almost impossible to keep my bills from piling.”  
  
“Want anything to drink?” Jared asked pointing to the kitchen, Jensen shook his head.  
  
“You like your roommates?”  
  
“They’re okay. Don’t see much of them since they work and go to school during the day and I work most nights at the club,” The club, right. An uneasiness set over Jensen and he wanted to sit down.  
  
“You like working there?” Jensen asked, genuinely curious.  
  
Jared shrugged, “Most of the time. It’s easy and fun. I mean, I get paid to get off and help other people get off.”  
  
Jensen lightly nodded his head without meeting Jared’s eyes.  
  
“It’s never intense like...well like last night.”  
  
Jensen’s eyes suddenly bolted up from the floor to Jared’s and Jared just smirked.  
  
“What? It’s not. And you have to admit last night got a bit intense.” Jensen tightened up again, squirming in place, licking his lips nervously. Jared let out a sigh, “I don’t get you man. You are an enigma.”  
  
Jensen shifted from one foot to the other and rubbed the back of his neck. Jared couldn’t help but smile and he really wanted to put him at ease. Jared took a step closer to where Jensen was standing. Jensen cautiously looked up at him under long lashes but didn’t move away.  
  
Speaking lower Jared said, “You can admit it to me, I already told you I’d keep your secret.” He stepped a bit closer, electricity flowing through them, connecting them. Jensen was the one to close the gap between them when he grabbed Jared by the hips and pulled him close. Jared happily complied rolling his hips into the touch and bending his neck to kiss Jensen’s plump lips. Without hesitation Jensen kissed back parting his lips to invite Jared’s tongue in. They moved as one until Jensen’s back was pressed up against the wall, grip tighter on Jared’s hips and Jared’s palms firmly placed on the wall beside Jensen’s head. They stayed like that for awhile just kissing and occasionally rolling their hips together to feel their growing erections.  
  
Jensen didn’t want it to stop, he wanted this to go on forever. He was feeling completely out of control, unable to keep his body in check, keep his heart from hammering in his chest and the sweat on his body from forming but he liked it. He loved it.  
  
Jared was the first to pull away, leaning his head against Jensen’s. Jensen’s world was spinning, he didn’t know which was up but for the first time in a long time there was a pleasant excitement in his belly. His lips felt a bit numb but wanted nothing more than to have them all over Jared, here and now.  
  
“Wanna go to my room?”  
  
The only answer Jared received was an incoherent mumble and a nod to the head but it was enough for Jared and pulled Jensen away.  
  
Inside Jared’s room was dark, the curtains closed tight blocking out the afternoon sun, the walls were white but covered in old movie posters. On his desk Jared had a business model set up that didn’t look like it was quite finished. That was about all Jensen could take in before he was being pushed onto Jared’s soft, unmade bed.  
  
Jared lined himself up with Jensen, legs fitted with one another, hips rocking, their dicks hard pressed between clothes, hot and heavy.  
  
“I don’t do this,” Jensen breathed out in between kisses.  
  
“Yeah, me either,” Jared agreed, which was true. Jared didn’t bring random guys home in the middle of the day and hook up with them in his bed. But there was something about this guy sent Jared’s insides into knots.  
  
“No, I mean I never do this,” Jensen clarified.  
  
Jared stopped kissing for a moment and looked down at the vibrant green eyes staring up at him beneath thin wire frames, “We don’t have to do this.”  
  
“No, I want to,” Jensen said immediately, “I just...”  
  
“I’ll go easy,” Jared said slow and deep sending chills down Jensen’s spine.  
  
“Okay,” he replied pulling Jared down into a needy kiss of tongues and teeth. Jared sat up straddling Jensen’s thighs, pulled his shirt up and off before getting his fingers on Jensen’s shirt. He slowly pulled Jensen’s shirt up untucking it from his, now wrinkled, khakis then went to work on the buttons. With the buttons finally open he ran his hands down Jensen’s chest and slipped the shirt off his shoulders.      
  


  
“Oh my god,” Jared breathed, looking at _Paul’s_ body beneath him.  
  
“What?” _Paul_ asked suddenly feeling very insecure.  
  
Jared turned his head up so he was looking him right in his eyes, “No, it’s just, wow. Who knew all of this was underneath all those tightly buttoned up clothes of yours.”  
  
“Oh,” _Paul_ muttered looking away with a bit of a smile on his face, heat burning his cheeks.  
  
Jared took a moment to take it all in, _Paul_ was all long and lean muscle, broad shoulders dusted with freckles like his nose, he had the softest skin that seemed to stretch on for miles.  
  
Jared met _Paul’s_ lips with his own, want and desire taking over him, when they pulled apart he breathed into his mouth, “I just have to know.”  
  
“Mmm?” _Paul_ mumbled almost completely lost in the moment.  
  
“I need to know your real name,” Jared insisted.  
  
 _Paul_ laughed and pushed himself up on his elbows, “Jensen.”  
  
“Jensen,” Jared tried it out on his tongue and immediately loved how it felt there, “Jensen,” he said again as he dipped his head to kiss Jensen for the first time. And it was good, it was so good. Lips parted, tongues colliding, nips of teeth.  
  
Jared pulled back once more, “Jensen fits you so much better than Paul.”  
  
“Why’s that?” Jensen asked tucking hair that had fallen in Jared’s face, behind his ear. So natural and comfortable like he’d been doing it for years.  
  
Jared shrugged a little, “Paul’s so boring. But Jensen is unique and kinda fun to say, not to mention sexy.”  
  
“Well most people would say I fit the first description better.”  
  
“I’m not most people,” Jared pushed Jensen back down and encased his body with his own. He brought Jensen’s hands up above his head and held them there while he kissed him. Jared found a place on Jensen’s neck that turned him into a mumbling fool and it sent sparks throughout Jared’s body listening to Jensen lose control at his doing.  
  
Pants were soon discarded, smooth dicks pressed together, hot and heavy, heads slick with precome, Jared reached down and gripped both, sliding his hand along them. Jensen arched up into the touch and let a gasp escape him. Jensen’s hands grazed down Jared’s back to his ass, he squeezed and brought a finger to tease Jared’s hole.  
  
Jared pulled away from the kiss instantly, “Oh fuck,” a shuddered moan, “Don’t stop,” Jared pleaded.  
  
Jensen looked up with a cocky grin Jared had never seen before and proceeded to unravel Jared with such a light touch.  
  
Before long Jared’s body went rigid as an orgasm took over sending hot come all over Jensen’s belly. Jared ran his fingers through his mess and covered Jensen’s dick, working him over the edge. Jensen threw his head back against the pillow, his belly now covered with a sticky mess of him and Jared. Slumping down next to Jensen, Jared kept his fingers loosely on Jensen’s dick working him through the post ripples of orgasm. When Jensen brought his hand down to stop Jared, now oversensitive and satisfied, Jared ran his fingers through their cooling come. One finger at a time he put in his mouth to lick clean, Jensen couldn’t take his eyes off him.  
  
When Jared was done cleaning the come off Jensen’s belly Jensen leaned over for a greedy kiss. Tongue diving into Jared’s to get a taste of them in his mouth, it sent off rockets inside his belly. He laid back on Jared’s bed feeling satisfied and sleepy when reality hit him and he bolted straight up.  
  
“What?” Jared asked surprised.  
  
Jensen turned to face Jared still lying down, confused look on his face, his floppy hair falling into his eyes.  
  
“I really am going to be late now.”  
  
“Oh shit!” Jared jumped up, throwing clothes from the floor at Jensen who took them and started to dress. They both scrambled around, Jared falling over trying to put his jeans on, Jensen laughing so hard he had to re-button his shirt. Once they were both dressed Jared walked up to Jensen and kissed him once more, slow and sweet.  
  


  
Jensen doesn’t do this. Jensen had never done this. Jensen didn’t know why he was currently doing this. And Jensen felt like he should be freaking out and running away as fast as he can from here. But instead he stood there getting kissed by a beautiful boy, he felt warm and happy and it was strange because that sort of thing didn’t happen to Jensen.  
  
Jared leaned his head against Jensen’s, “Do we really have to go to class?”  
  
Jensen let out a heavy sigh and pushed away, heading towards the door, “We really do. Or at least I do, you’re a grown man, you can make your own decisions,” Jensen smirked.  
  
Jared smirked back, “Then let’s go, asshole.”  
  
Later, Jensen sat in his journalism class trying to keep his attention on the professor at the front of the room but his mind kept falling back to earlier that afternoon. In the presence of Jared, Jensen seemed to forget his insecurities and he felt good, not just about himself but about everything. The first night they met, the first night at the club, Jensen was feeling awful. He hated how his life was going, things hadn’t worked out with him and Lisa which he solely blamed on himself because he wasn’t happy with her. She was a perfectly nice woman, smart and beautiful, knew what she wanted in life but there wasn’t any spark. He wasn’t excited at the thought of her and eventually begun to push her away. Their last conversation ended with her saying, “You’ll never be happy, Jensen. And you know why? Because you don’t have it in you.” And Jensen believed that, he’d never really been happy. His whole life he lived in a grey bubble of being content but when it came to that feeling where you can’t stop smiling and colors seemed more vibrant and waking up didn’t seem like such a chore, he’d never felt that way.  
  
But then today happened and his cheeks hurt from having a doofy grin on his face. He felt happy. It was completely ridiculous, Jensen knew that, but at the same time he couldn’t find a reason to care. Except, of course, that this happiness seemed to be dependent on that of another person and Jensen learned at a young age that people can’t really be trusted much. Jensen ignored the tiny amount of dread in his stomach and tried his hardest to keep his attention on the professor once more.  
  
When class was over Jensen packed up his stuff and headed for the door to leave. Outside in the warm air of the late afternoon leaning against one of the pillars was Jared who smiled the moment Jensen saw him.  
  
“Hey,” Jensen greeted a bit surprised.  
  
“Hey,” Jared said looking a bit bashful. He stuffed his hands in his pockets.  
  
“I thought you had class.”  
  
“Got out early, I guess,” Jared said with a shrug. “Look, I had fun earlier...with you. And I was wondering if you wanted to hang out again sometime.”  
  
Jensen bit down on the urge to smile bigger and answered, “I mean, yeah, I’m free tonight if you want to grab some dinner?”  
  
“I can’t tonight, I have to work but maybe tomorrow?” Jared suggested.  
  
“Sounds good.”  
  
“Cool.” Jared said with a smile, “Well, I have to get going but I’ll see you tomorrow.”  
  
“See ya,” Jensen smiled as he watched Jared walk away.Yeah, this wasn’t going to end well, he thought.  
  


  
Work was hard that night for Jared. He was having a hard time compartmentalizing and focusing on the job at hand as just that, a job. With every touch and flirtatious word he thought of Jensen. He thought about the way he looked stretched out on his bed earlier, how his hands felt on his face and down his back, he thought about the way his green eyes drew dark the more they kissed and how everything just felt completely normal when really none of it was. They met at his work, they ran into each other at a coffee shop then spent the afternoon together, naked in Jared’s bed.  
  
Jared sat in the back room of the club on his break thinking, when Chad walked in he called him over. Chad sat across from him and laid his head on the table, “Sometimes, I really fuckin’ hate this job.”  
  
Jared rustled Chad’s hair, “Ah, it’s not that bad.”  
  
Chad popped up with a smile, pulled out a huge wad of cash, “You’re telling me!”  
  
Both men laughed as Chad got up to lock his money away.  
  
“Hey Chad, what’s with your Jensen friend?” Jared asked a moment later.  
  
“Ah sorry man, was he a total asshole to you the other night? That’s just how he is. Nothing ever makes him happy,” Chad shrugged and Jared contemplated his words.  
  
“No, he wasn’t asshole to me but, I don’t know, he was just kind of a mystery, ya know?”  
  
Chad let out a loud laugh, “A mystery asshole maybe.”  
  
“He’s not that bad.”  
  
“Try spending more than forty minutes with the guy!” Chad teased.  
  
Jared rolled his eyes, “Whatever.”  
  
“Look, our buddies just brought him here to fuck with him, his girlfriend had just dumped him and bringing him to a gay club was just a stupid joke, ya know?”  
  
“Your friends sound like the assholes,” Jared said under his breath.  
  
“You sweet on him or something? Why you standing up for a guy you don’t even know? Trust me, dude is never happy, never smiles, never laughs, something is seriously wrong with him. They were just tryin’ to loosen him up,” Chad shrugged, “I gotta get back out there. Don’t waste your time thinking about the dude, he’s a lost cause.”  
  
Jared sat back in his chair and thought about what Chad had just told him, the first two nights he’d met Jensen it was true, he didn’t smile once the entire time. But then the next morning with Sadie and then that whole afternoon with Jared he was totally different. Jared couldn’t help but smile at that.  
  
The next morning Jared found it very hard to wake up for class. He fumbled around in the dark looking for clean clothes, he settled for the jeans he wore the day before and a tshirt that didn’t smell dirty. On the way out of his house he promised Sadie he’d walk her when he got home from class, grabbed his jacket and headed to school.  
  
As he sat in the back of his lecture hall listening to his professor drone on he took out his phone to text Jensen.  
  
We still meeting up today?  
If you want to.  
Wouldn’t have texted you if I didn’t :)  
Good. Class til 3 then nothing til work at 4. You?  
Last class ends at 330. Meet up at the Square?  
Sounds good.  
  
Later that afternoon Jared found Jensen sitting at a table engrossed in a book. He looked to be concentrating hard Jared, didn’t want to interrupt so he stood and watched him for a moment. Jensen’s long lashes blinked behind his lenses, his forehead wrinkled in concentration and one of his fingers pressed to his lips in thought. Jared noticed he was wearing another pair of khakis and wondered if he even owned a pair of jeans. Jensen also wore a light blue button up, tucked in, of course, with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. Jared hadn’t noticed their previous encounters but Jensen also wore an old pair of Chucks which amused Jared greatly.  
  
When Jared decided he had watched, a non-creepy amount of time, he cleared his throat. Jensen took the time to finish the sentence he was reading then looked up, his face already softer.  
  
“Sorry,” he apologized.  
  
Jared smiled and sat down across from him, “Don’t apologize. Good book?”  
  
“It’s great. It’s about how in the 50’s radio was so much bigger than it is now,” Jensen stretched, “Now it’s all about being seen on tv and the internet.”  
  
“You don’t want to be seen on the tv or internet?” Jared asked.  
  
Jensen gave him a ‘this should be obvious’ look. “People don’t really see me. I wouldn’t do well if I had to make a job out of it.”  
  
“I find that hard to believe.”  
  
“Well, I’ve got 22 years under my belt to prove otherwise,” Jensen sighed.  
  
“I saw you,” Jared said softly looking Jensen in the eyes.  
  
Jensen fidgeted in his seat, “What?”  
  
“That first night in the club before we met at the bar. I saw you from across the room.”  
  
Jensen felt his cheeks go warm, “You did?”  
  
“Hell yeah,” Jared started, “I was planning on going over and talking to you, just to flirt really but Chad had already made his way over to your booth.”  
  
“Why?” Jensen asked genuinely confused.  
  
Jared let out a loud laugh, “Because you’re hot Jensen. You’re nice to look at and after talking to you yesterday, you’re a pretty interesting dude to talk to too.”  
  
Jensen just stared at Jared with a look like he’d never heard those words directed at him before and it made Jared’s heart feel heavy.  
  
“Why do you think I’m sitting here right now Jensen? Because I like being around you.”  
  
Jensen gave a little bit of a grin, “It’s ‘cause I put out so fast.”  
  
Jared couldn’t help but laugh at Jensen’s response, “True, but I would still be here even if we hadn’t hooked up yesterday.”  
  
Jensen just smiled and looked away.  
  
“And really we only got to gay first base.”  
  
Jensen choked on a laugh, “Gay first base?”  
  
“Yeah, you know, first base, making out with dicks out.”  
  
“And what are the other bases?”  
  
Jared grinned, “Second base is blowjobs, third base is fingering and rimming, rimming optional, and home base is...you know, actual sex.”  
  
Jensen laughed, his whole face broke out into a smile and Jared sat there smiling too, happy to make Jensen laugh.  
  
“Well, thanks for that info,” Jensen checked his watch then sighed, “I should probably get going to set up for tonight.”  
  
“Oh,” Jared started, bummed that their time together went so fast, “Okay, well maybe some other time then?”  
  
“Sure, I mean, unless you want to tag along?” Jensen asked unsure.  
  
Jared smiled a bit, “Sure, if you’re serious.”  
  
“Wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t serious,” Jensen smiled.  
  


  
Jensen gathered his things and they headed off towards the 400 building where the broadcast rooms were held. They made their way inside and down a hallway Jensen frequented.  
  
“Sorry about this. If it gets boring, don’t feel bad about taking off.”  
  
“It’s cool, you got to see where I work and now I get to see where you work,” Jared said enthusiastically. Jensen just gave him a look, “What, you going to judge me every time my work is brought up?” Jared asked.  
  
“I’m not judging you, Jared. I just don’t get it,” Jensen said sincerely.  
  
“What’s not to get? I get paid to provide a service just like you do.”  
  
“Yeah, but I don’t have to take my clothes off for mine.”  
  
“Says the guy who came in twice.”  
  
Jensen just rolled his eyes, “Fair enough.”  
  
They continued to walk along the hallway until they reached the supply room. Jensen filled up Jared’s arms with things Jensen needed to get everything set up for the radio show that night and Jared happily obliged.  
  
They left the supply room and walked a bit farther to a surprisingly smaller room, not much bigger than Jared’s room at home. It was split in two by a glass window and a door. There were headphones and microphones, computers and chairs, and on the far wall was a bookcase filled with blue and white binders.  
  
While Jensen got to work setting up he asked softly, “Hey Jared?”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“How’d you get started at the club?”  
  
Jared pulled himself up on one of the desks and let out a little chuckle. “Uh well, do you want to hear the short version or the long version?”  
  
“Both.”  
  
“Really? ‘Cause the long version is really long.”  
  
“Both,” Jensen said sternly but sincerely.  
  
“Okay, short version, I needed money.”  
  
Jensen stopped moving around the cramped room and looked at Jared with thought, “And what’s the long version?”  
  
When Jared started telling his story Jensen got back to work, moving about the little room, hooking up cables, turning on the computers, opening programs, sifting through various binders. But all while moving around constantly he never stopped listening to Jared’s story.  
  
“My mom moved my younger sister and I out here when I was fifteen. We didn’t have much money and the only reason she even chose Washington was because at the time she had an aunt out here who said she’d give us a place to stay until we got on our feet. Well, we never really got onto our feet. Don’t get me wrong, my mom worked her ass off to put food on the table and she even went nights without food herself just so my sister and I could eat.”  
  
“She slept on a couch so that my sister and I could share the bed, she wore her aunt’s hand-me-downs so that she could afford to get my sister and me clothes for school, that kind of thing. And it was hard, you know? Watching your mom jump through hoops just to stay afloat all because she married a guy who ended up being a real jackass.”  
  
Jared hopped off the desk and walked across the room to the bookcase where he trailed his finger along a row of binders, “So, I just took it upon myself to find a way to get money. I started out like most teenagers and asked around everywhere I could to see if anyone was hiring. Most places wouldn’t even talk to me because I wasn’t old enough, other places wouldn’t hire because I had no experience in anything but finally I found a supermarket not far from my school that would let me bag groceries for minimum wage. I was all ready to drop out of school and work long hours just to help my mom out but the store would only let me work a total of 10 hours a week.”  
  
Jared turned suddenly, raised his hands up in defeat, “Ten hours! Can you believe that? Ten hours on minimum wage is nothing.” A heavy sigh escaped from Jared and he continued, “I kept the job though, it was better than nothing and I just kept my eyes and ears open for something else to come along and that’s when Harvey happened.”  
  
“Harvey?” Jensen asked now sitting in one of the chairs completely immersed in Jared’s story.  
  
Jared crossed the room, pulled out one of the chairs from the desk and sat in it backwards, his arms resting on the back of the chair, facing Jensen. “Yeah...Harvey. I was walking home from the store late one night and this guy, out of nowhere, starts like, catcalling me. Calling me pretty, saying I was fuckable, that I had a nice mouth, gross stuff you don’t want to be hearing at 15 by some old guy.”  
  
“Gross,” Jensen said scrunching up his nose.  
  
“Yeah,” Jared continued, “Anyway, the guy got up in my face after I ignored him, he grabbed me, threw me against the wall and held me there. I honestly thought I was losing my virginity that night because I may be a big guy now, but I didn’t hit my growth spurt ‘til I was eighteen or so. So, I was a pretty scrawny fifteen year old.”  
  
“This is Harvey?” Jensen asked.  
  
“No, Harvey came out of nowhere and threw the guy off me. He chewed him out and threatened to call the cops which made the guy bolt. I was so relieved, I was almost in tears.”  
  
~  
“You okay kid?” the tall, dark haired man asked. Jared couldn’t find words right away so he just shook his head vigorously.  
  
“What are you doing out here anyway?”  
  
Finally, finding words Jared answered, “I ju-just got off work at the supermarket, ju-just tryin’ to get home.” To be honest, he was scared, he still didn’t quite know the city well enough and made a mental note not to take this road home again.  
  
The older man walked up to Jared, put his finger under his chin and raised it to look Jared in the eye. “That guy was right ya know? You do have a nice mouth, people pay a lotta money for a mouth like that.” Jared pulled his face away quickly and gave the man a sharp look.  
  
“Just sayin’, you ever need a good chunk of change, you come lookin’ for me and I’ll set you up real nice. I keep you safe and make sure you get your money.” the man circled Jared, eyeing him up, “Real pretty, you are. People pay a lotta money for a sweet thing like you.”  
  
Jared backed away slowly and just as he took off running the rest of the way home, the man called out to him, “You change your mind kid? Come find Harvey!”  
~  
  
“And so I did eventually. Things got worse with my mom and his offer kept nagging me in the back of my head. So, I swallowed down any pride I had and went and found him. He did what he said he’d do, he kept me safe and made sure I got my money.”  
  
“You were fifteen,” Jensen said quietly in disbelief.  
  
Jared shrugged, “Yep and I know it sounds awful, hell it was awful, I mean, it’s child prostitution but you do what you gotta do. Anyway, I did that for awhile until I turned eighteen. That’s when I started at the club, became my own boss, dealt with my own money, much better.”  
  
Jared sat back, hands tight on the back of the chair and just shrugged his shoulders again.  
  
Jensen couldn’t believe his ears, he couldn’t believe that Jared had gone through all of that as a teenager, he couldn’t believe that Jared seemed so well adjusted despite it all. He wanted to throw his arms around Jared and hug him, protect him but really Jared didn’t look at all uncomfortable.  
  
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Jared said breaking the silence.  
  
“It sounds pretty bad, Jared.”  
  
Jared shrugged again, “It’s not. Life in Texas was a hundred times worse. I’ve got it really good here. I like where I’m at, I like where my sister’s at.”  
  
“And your mom?”  
  
“My mom never really bounced back. But she’s better off here than Texas too so I can’t complain.”  
  
Suddenly the door to the tiny room swung open to a beautiful redhead, “Oh! I’m sorry! Am I interrupting something? I wasn’t expecting anyone else in here except Jensen. I’m sorry.”  
  
“It’s okay, Danneel, Jared was just helping me set up,” Jensen said motioning to Jared, “Jared this is Danneel she does sports on the radio show, Danneel, Jared.”  
  
“Sports and gossip!” Danneel corrected as she shook hands with Jared giving him her biggest smile. Jared shook her hand and smiled back, Jensen stood, “Okay so now that we all know each other. Jared and I were just leaving.”  
  
Danneel and Jared broke apart, he gave her a courteous nod and headed for the door with Jensen.  
  
“Didn’t mean to kick you boys out, you’re welcome to stay. I swear I don’t bite.”  
  
“Hard,” Jensen and Danneel said in unison, causing Danneel to break out into giggles as Jensen just shook his head.  
  
“Later, Danneel,” Jensen said and closed the door behind him and Jared.  
  
They walked a few feet, “So, you two are cute,” Jared said teasingly.  
  
Jensen laughed, “Yeah about as cute as two siblings who drive each other crazy.”  
  
Jared nudged him with his shoulder, “That’s how it always starts! I hear wedding bells.”  
  
“Yeah, doubt that. Danneel’s got a boyfriend she’s had since freshman year and if she wasn’t with him then she’d be with our friend Steve.”  
  
“Also, you’re not into chicks,” Jared smiled. Jensen couldn’t hide his bashfulness as his cheeks filled with color.  
  
Before they knew it they were walking outside, “Uh, where are we going?” Jensen asked.  
  
“I dunno, I was following you,” Jared replied, “Are you done with work already?”  
  
Jensen checked his watch, “Yes and no. I don’t have anything to do for another hour then I have to go sit in on one of the shows to help behind the scenes.”  
  
“Oh, well then, you hungry? I’m starving!” Jared exclaimed.  
  
“Yeah, I could eat,” Jensen said with a smile and they walked off to find some food.  
  


  
Over the next several weeks Jared and Jensen found themselves hanging out more and more, in between classes, on nights when neither had work, on weekends, soon every free moment they had was spent with each other.  
  
“Well look who it is,” Chris called as Jensen walked through the door of their regular bar and made his way to the guys.  
  
“You know, you look a little familiar, like a friend I used to have!” Jason teased. Jensen smirked sliding into the booth next to Jason.  
  
“Shut up,” Jensen smiled, “What’s everyone up to?”  
  
“No, no, no, you can’t just come in here after not seeing us for two weeks and act like there’s nothing going on! What have you been up to?” Jason asked.  
  
“Nothing! I haven’t been up to anything,” Jensen lied, trying to hide his growing smile.  
  
“You are such a liar. One, we’ve never seen you smile so much in such a short amount of time and two, I talked to Jared,” Chad said smirking at Jensen.  
  
“Who’s Jared?” Chris asked.  
  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jensen tried to play coy.  
  
“You are so full of shit!” Chad exclaimed, “If you don’t tell them, I will. Like I said, I talked to Jared.”  
  
“Who the fuck is Jared?” Chris yelled.  
  
The whole table laughed and Jensen sat with his arms folded biting down on a smile. It wasn’t that he didn’t want his friends to know about Jared, it was just that he kind of liked having Jared all to himself. They had spent so much time together in the past several weeks, getting to know each other in every single way. It had been really awesome and Jensen was the happiest he had ever been but he wasn’t necessarily ready to spill it all to his friends.  
  
“Last chance before I tell them what I’ve heard,” Chad teasingly threatened.  
  
Jensen narrowed his eyes, “I’m kind of interested in hearing what you’ve heard.”  
  
Chad wagged his eyebrows in response.  
  
“Wait a second,” Jason started fitting the pieces together, “is Jared the guy from the club?”  
  
Chris and Jason both turned to look directly at Jensen, “You’re kidding me! The giant from the club the night after Lisa dumped your ass? Him? That’s who you’ve been hanging out with?” Chris asked in disbelief.  
  
“Been doing more than hanging out,” Chad said under his breath, Jason and Chris’ eyes grew wider.  
  
“Oh, really? Is that what you heard?” Jensen asked with a smirk.  
  
Chad leaned closer, resting his arms on the table, “Look, you guys are my best friends but since working at the club I’ve gotten pretty close with Jared, apparently not as close as you, but close enough that we talk.”  
  
“Just tell us already!” Chris exclaimed in frustration.  
  
Jensen laughed, “Fine! It’s not even that big of a deal. But yeah, I’ve been hanging out with Jared, the giant from the club, and...we’re having fun. That’s it, no big deal.”  
  
“Jensen Ackles just having ‘fun’ and with a guy...sounds way more than ‘no big deal’,” Chris hinted.  
  
Jensen shrugged and that’s all he was going to say. The guys continued to hound him for more information but he wouldn’t budge and they eventually dropped it moving on to other topics of conversation.  
  
Later in the night after they were all on their fourth and fifth beers Chris and Jason were at the bar hitting on some transfer students from Iowa while Jensen stayed at the booth with Chad. Chad quietly sang along with whatever song was playing over the speakers and Jensen enjoyed the delightful buzz from the alcohol. Since Jared came into his life he’d been able to relax more, he’d been able to smile and enjoy life and Jensen couldn’t figure out why exactly. Jared wasn’t with him at the bar but yet he was able to stay longer than he normally would have and he even found himself enjoying Chad’s company. Jensen chose not to over analyze it and just enjoy it for what it was....whatever that may be.  
  
“He really likes you, you know?” Chad said suddenly, slow and low before taking another long pull of his beer.  
  
Jensen turned to Chad and gave a lazy smile.  
  
“I’m only telling you,” Chad went on, “because I can tell you like him too. Just don’t fuck him over. He’s a good guy.”  
  
“You think I don’t know that?” Jensen asked slightly annoyed at the accusation that he didn’t already know how good of a guy Jared was.  
  
“No, it’s not that. I mean, you knew Lisa was a great girl but you still fucked her over.”  
  
Jensen slouched down in his his seat, suddenly feeling the ill effects of the alcohol, “This isn’t the same sort of situation.”  
  
“I don’t want to ruin your buzz, I’m just trying to look out for ya...and him,” Chad shrugged.  
  
Jensen sat up, leaned across the table so he was looking directly at Chad, “Chad, hear me when I tell you, this isn’t the same sort of situation.”  
  
“Yeah? What’s so different?” he asked.  
  
“It just is,” Jensen said confidently.  
  
“It better be.”  
  
And it was. Jensen knew Jared was a great guy, he’d already proved that time and time again with the way he treated his dog to how he treated random strangers they came across on campus. Hell, even the way they met was an indicator of how Jared truly cared for people and when he was with Jared, he could just feel that there was something special there.  
  
Chad did have a point though, he did have a reputation of fucking things up when it came to relationships.  
  
“Hey, I’m gonna head out, tell the guys, will ya?” Jensen said clapping his hand with Chad’s who gave him a nod.  
  
Jensen left the bar and headed home.  
  
About a block from home his phone rang and Jared’s number showed on the screen, Jensen couldn’t help but smile.  
  
“Hey,” Jensen drawled.  
  
“Hi,” Jared said warmly, “I just got off work, what are you doing?”  
  
“Walking home from the bar with the guys,” There was a pause before either said anything, “Wanna come over? I’m almost home.”  
  
Jared was still quiet on the other end of the phone, “Jared?”  
  
“If you’d stop looking at your feet when you walked you’d see me,” Jared said with a laugh.  
  
Jensen lifted his head and leaning against the outside of Jensen’s building was Jared. He was out of his work clothes dressed in dark jeans and a hoodie, hair still a bit damp from the shower Jensen assumed he’d taken after his shift and a smile on his face.  
  
“Hey,” Jensen greeted again once he made it to the door unable to keep the smile off his face.  
  
Jared dipped his head down to meet Jensen’s lips with his own, “Hi.”  
  
Jensen felt intoxicated again, like his buzz had never really gone away, he felt light on his feet and warm in his belly.  
  
“Let’s go inside,” Jensen whispered in Jared’s mouth as the two kissed.  
  
They made their way up the three flights of stairs to Jensen’s apartment, as Jensen tried fitting his key into the lock Jared was doing his best to distract him by grabbing his ass.  
  
“You know, this would go a lot faster if you weren’t doing that,” Jensen breathed out, fumbling with the keys in his hand.  
  
“Yeah but this is a lot more fun,” Jared growled leaning his whole body into Jensen, trapping Jensen between the door and Jared’s large frame. His breath hot on Jensen’s neck, Jensen pushed back, rubbing his ass on Jared’s growing erection.  
  
“Mmm, I can’t wait to get inside that tight, little ass of yours.”  
  
“Oh fuck,” Jensen moaned, dropping his head down between his shoulders, “Then let me open this fucking door.”  
  
Jared pushed off against the door giving Jensen plenty of room to get the right key into the lock and turn. The second they were inside Jared pushed Jensen up against the nearest wall, holding him there as he pressed his body to Jensen’s.  
  
“I have been thinking about you all night,” Jared grunted, biting Jensen’s bottom lip as he ran his tongue over the smooth skin caught between his teeth. He claimed Jensen’s mouth with his own, tongues tangled, heavy breaths escaping.  
  
Jensen started toeing off his shoes and shucking off his jacket as Jared pulled off his hoodie and the tshirt beneath it. Jared’s hands were fast on Jensen’s hips pushing him back on to Jensen’s bed, he worked quickly at undoing all the buttons on Jensen’s shirt, “Fuck, I love that you’re all buttoned up tight for everyone but me, I’m the one that gets to see what’s underneath.” He bent down, placing kisses all along Jensen’s collarbone and down his chest. Then he moved back up to Jensen’s shoulder and neck, biting him hard, marking him.    
  
Jared went on, “No one, has any idea but me.”  
  
His eyes met Jensen’s burning dark in desire and Jensen felt so wound up he might snap.  
  
With quick fingers Jared had Jensen’s belt undone and was pulling it through the belt loops, “You have no idea what you do to me Jensen. You’re all I can think about, you’re the only one I want to touch and you know what else?” Jared asked darkly as he undid the button on Jensen’s pants, “I want to be the only one that touches you, ever. I want you to be mine and only mine.”  
  
Jensen closed his eyes tight and swallowed hard at Jared’s words, his heart pounding in his chest. In seconds Jared’s hands were in Jensen’s pants pulling out his swollen cock, Jared pressed his lips firmly to it before pressing his tongue flat against it, and dragged along slowly, base to tip. Jensen’s hips jerked at the amazing sensation and Jared took it as a cue to swallow him all down. Jared worked over Jensen’s cock, bobbing his head, letting Jensen hit the back of his throat as Jensen laid back biting down on his lip.  
  
Jared pulled off with a pop and yanked Jensen’s pants off the rest of the way, Jensen lying there completely naked for all of Jared to see. Jensen pushed himself up on his elbows as Jared crawled his way up to Jensen’s mouth. The men kissed, tongues mapping out each other’s mouths, nips of teeth.  
  
Jared pulled back, “Flip over,” he bit Jensen’s bottom lip hard, “now.”  
  
Jensen did as he was told, laid out on his belly, legs wide as Jared grasped each cheek and spread him. Jared dipped his head, dragged his tongue up through the middle causing Jensen’s toes to curl and him to cry out in pleasure. Jared did it again with a pleased look on his face as Jensen writhed on the bed from his touch.  
  
Jared worked Jensen open like that, fucking him with his tongue, until Jensen was begging Jared to fuck him properly.  
  
“Fucking christ Jared, please, please, right now, please.”  
  
Jared chuckled dark and low, “I’ll give it to ya, baby. I’ll give it to ya.”  
  
He peppered kisses up Jensen’s back and reached into the bedside table for a condom and lube. He situated himself back down between Jensen’s spread legs and fit the condom on before lubing himself and Jensen up liberally.  
  
In one smooth push he was buried deep inside Jensen who let out a ragged breath of pleasure. Jared rocked against him, grasping tightly to Jensen’s hips, pushing and pulling. On each push in he twisted his hips a bit, hitting the sensitive bundle of nerves deep inside Jensen sending sparks of incredible pleasure throughout his whole body. Jared laid down, fitting his body over Jensen’s as he moved inside him, Jensen tightly wrapped around his cock, hot and secure. He tucked his hands under Jensen’s chest, never stopping his hips as they slammed into Jensen. Jensen craned his neck giving Jared a perfect spot to bite down on.  
  
“Oh fuck, Jare,.” Jensen mumbled as pleasure incoherencies spilled from his mouth.  
  
Jared slid his hand down to Jensen’s aching cock, matched his pumping with the movement of his hips and within minutes Jensen was coming hot all over his hand crying out Jared’s name. Hearing his name on Jensen’s lips sent him over the edge, his body went rigid as his orgasm crashed over him.  
  
After a minute of catching their breath Jared pulled out and disposed of the condom before climbing into bed beside Jensen. They laid there, tangled in sweating limbs and sheets, sharing lazy kisses.  
  
“I missed you today,” Jared said nuzzling into Jensen’s neck.  
  
“Mmm, I missed you too. This time of year is busy for the radio show.”  
  
“And then I worked late at the club,” Jared paused, “I’ve gotten so used to spending so much time with you.”  
  
Jensen huffed thinking about the conversation he’d had at the bar with Chad, “Chad said something funny at the bar tonight.”  
  
“Sure you weren’t just looking at his face? That’s usually pretty funny to me.”  
  
Jensen laughed, “No, he was actually being serious for once.”  
  
“Okay, what’d he say?” Jared asked.  
  
“He said that you and him talk at the club...”  
  
“Yeah,” Jared started, “we’re friends who work together.”  
  
“He said you talk about me.”  
  
Jared’s body tightened a bit but he didn’t say anything. Jensen turned so he was facing Jared more, “He also said that you really liked me.”  
  
“Oh really? That’s what he said?” Jared said with a laugh. “It’s ‘cause I do,” Jared said quietly burying his face in Jensen’s shoulder.  
  
Jensen laughed and ran his fingers through Jared’s hair as Jared spoke softly again, “I thought that much was obvious.”  
  
Jensen tightened his grip in Jared’s hair and pulled, making Jared look up at him. Jensen smiled wide then covered Jared’s mouth with his own in a deep kiss. He moved over Jared’s body, fitting himself on top of Jared as he continued to move his lips with Jared’s.  
  


  
The truth, of course, was that he was in love with Jensen. It wasn’t even just a general likeness he had for Jensen anymore, he was falling completely for the man. It wasn’t logical, they’d only known each other for less than two months but nothing about them was logical since the day they met.  
  
But Jared wasn’t ready to share that with Jensen just yet, he wanted him to know that he cared about him and liked him but the whole love thing was intimidating.  
  
So for the time being, Jared enjoyed being close to Jensen and kissing him in bed after great sex.  
  
“Well with that sort of reaction I guess I’ll rethink kicking Chad’s ass for spilling my secrets to you,” Jared said gazing up into Jensen’s forest green eyes behind his wire frames.  
  
Jensen smiled, “I’m not one to stand up for Chad but it is his fault we’re together.”  
  
“Take that back!” Jared teased, “Do not give Chad that much credit!”  
  
Jensen laughed, “It’s true!”  
  
“It is not true!” Jared exclaimed scooting out from under Jensen so they were laying side by side, resting on elbows, “I already told you, a couple days after we met, that I had already seen you and was going to make my way to your booth before Chad ever came up to me.”  
  
“That’s right, you saw me,” Jensen said sweetly as he leaned in and kissed Jared.  
  
“You bet your pretty ass I did,” Jared rolled onto his back, looking up at the ceiling, and put his hands behind his head.  
  
Jensen followed, resting his head on Jared’s chest as he lightly dragged his finger across Jared’s chest in patterns. They were quiet, just relaxing in each other’s space after a long day.  
  
“Jared?” Jensen asked tentatively.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“What are you doing for spring break?”  
  
Jared took in a deep breath thinking about their break coming up in a couple weeks, “Just workin’ I guess. Why?”  
  
Jensen sat up keeping his hand on Jared’s chest, “I always go home to Texas for the week,” Jensen paused, unsure about what was coming next, “And was wondering if you wanted to come along.”  
  
Jared’s eyes grew wide, “You bringing me back home to meet your parents already?”  
  
“That’s not what this is!” Jensen tried to clarify, “I just...I don’t like being away from you and a whole week is going to be hard.”  
  
A smile played across Jared’s face, “We’re pathetic.”  
  
“Yeah we are,” Jensen agreed as he laughed.  
  
Jared reached up and pulled Jensen down on top of him again in a deep kiss, “I’d love to go to Texas with you for spring break.”  
  
As Jared fell asleep that night he couldn’t help but smile at how crazy this whole thing was. In just a couple weeks he was going to fly home to Texas, fly to Jensen’s childhood home in Texas, to be exact and meet his family. Excitement pooled in his belly, he pulled Jensen closer and basked in how much happier he’d become since falling into Jensen’s life just a few months ago.  
  
The following day was a Saturday and neither had to be anywhere so Jensen woke Jared up with a blowjob and they spent the entire morning rolling around in Jensen’s bed. They fucked nice and slow, they took their time with soft kisses, took time to appreciate the morning sun’s glow on each other’s skin through the window and they took the time to really feel each other, in every way.  
  
“Can I ask you something?” Jared asked after they’d come down from their orgasm high.  
  
Jensen sat up, “Can you ask it while we make food? I’m starving.”  
  
Jared smiled and shook his head, they got up, threw on whatever jeans were lying around from the night before and headed towards the kitchenette to make breakfast.  
  
Jensen opened his fridge to see that it was mostly bare, “Wow, I really need to go to the store.” He closed the fridge and opened up a cupboard, “Uhh...want some dry cereal? I don’t have any milk,” he said pulling out a box and shaking it slightly.  
  
Jared laughed, “Sure but what I really want is some coffee.”  
  
“That,” Jensen started, opening the fridge again to pull out a container of coffee and starting the coffee maker, “I always have stocked.”  
  
As Jensen stood, putting spoonfuls of ground coffee into the maker Jared walked up behind him and put his arms around his waist, resting his chin on his shoulder.  
  
“Weren’t you going to ask me something?” Jensen asked as her turned around after turning on the coffee and put his hands on Jared’s hips.  
  
Jared dipped his head to kiss Jensen, “Do you remember the first night we met?”  
  
“Yeah,” Jensen answered, drawing out the end.  
  
Jared smiled, “Were you really as unhappy as you seemed?”  
  
Jensen looked at Jared sideways, “How unhappy did I seem?”  
  
“Pretty miserable. I had never seen a guy come in, sit the way you sat, with a face as angry as yours and leave without getting off.”  
  
“I got off at the club and then again once I got home,” Jensen admitted.  
  
“To me?”  
  
“To you,” Jensen said with a shy smile.  
  
Jared let out a loud laugh and a wide smile grew on Jensen’s face. After a minute Jared quieted down again, his face grew serious and he looked at Jensen, “Did it make you happy?”  
  
Jensen lightly shook his head, “No, it made me feel worse.”  
  
“Why’d you come back the next night?” Jared asked.  
  
Jensen shrugged, “You. I couldn’t get you out of my head and I just felt compelled to do it. It was completely out of character for me...hell, this whole thing,” Jensen said motioning between the two of them, “is completely out of character for me.”  
  
“Funny isn’t it?” Jared kissed Jensen softly, “How things like this happen and it ends up being...”  
  
“Amazing,” Jensen finished for him.  
  
It was right there on the tip of Jared’s tongue, the words ‘I love you’ and he did, he really loved him, had never been in love like this before and yet he couldn’t bring himself to say it, not yet.  
  
“Are you happy now?” Jared asked instead, voice quiet.  
  
“Jared,” Jensen started, “I’m more than happy now, the happiest I’ve ever been.”  
  
“Me too,” Jared said before meeting Jensen’s lips with his own.  
  
Jensen’s phone rang near his bed, they parted and Jared watched as Jensen walked away, his pants riding low on his hips. He leaned back against the counter unable to keep the smile stealing his face.  
  
“Hey Momma,” Jared could hear Jensen answer into the phone and Jared’s heart sped up a little at how endearing it was.  
  
Jared tried not to listen in on the conversation but his ears perked up at the mention of spring break, “Yes, Momma, a boy.”  
  
“Jared, the one I mentioned before.”  
  
“I don’t know...yes something like that,” Jared wasn’t sure what the conversation consisted of but he was definitely curious.  
  
Jensen laughed into the phone, the crinkles near his eyes deepening even more and Jared wanted to kiss them.  
  
“Okay Momma, I love you, see ya in a couple weeks.”  
  
Jensen hung up the phone, stood there for a minute with a tiny smile playing at his lips, then looked up to find Jared staring at him, “My mom,” Jensen said.  
  
Jared smiled, “I figured. They okay with me coming to Texas?”  
  
Jensen crossed the room, slid his hands over Jared’s hips and leaned into him, barely grazing Jared’s lips with his own, “Definitely. She did ask one thing that I wasn’t quite sure how to answer though.”  
  
“Yeah? What’s that?” Jared asked not moving away from Jensen.  
  
Jensen kissed him, “She wanted to know if we were together.”  
  
“Like over at your house?” Jared asked teasingly, knowing exactly what Jensen meant.  
  
“No, dumbass, like, together together.”  
  
Jared laughed, “We better be!”  
  
“Good,” Jensen replied with a big smile as he pulled Jared back to Jensen’s bed where they laid around drinking their coffee.  
  
Jared sat up and looked around the tiny apartment, “Why don’t we ever hang out here more often?”  
  
Jensen shrugged, “Not much here.”  
  
It was true, it really was just one big room with a bathroom attached. There was a halfwall which the bed was pushed against, behind that was Jensen’s desk and closet, his little kitchenette, along one wall were his windows, a tv and a couch, then his front door with bookshelves on either side of it. Jared liked it though, not at all messy but not impeccable, it was comfortable, lived in. He looked at the bedside table and saw a picture frame he’d never noticed before. He took it in his hands and looked at it, it was a picture of him with his parents and sister, he assumed.  
  
“When was this?” he asked. Jensen glanced at the picture and smiled, “Last spring break. Those are my parents and my baby sister Mackenzie.”  
  
Jared ran his thumb down the side of the frame, they all looked so happy together, his dad with one arm around his mom and the other hand firmly planted on Jensen’s shoulder as Jensen held his little sister. It warmed Jared’s heart and made him excited to meet this part of Jensen’s life.  
  


  
Spring break had finally arrived and Jensen was on his way home to Texas with Jared at his side. Although he was excited to get home to see his family and happy to get to spend a whole week with Jared, he was anxious nonetheless. Halfway through their flight Jensen turned to Jared, “Hey Jared?”  
  
“Yeah,” Jared turned from the window and gave his attention to Jensen who had been fidgeting nervously with the armrest. Jared put his hand down on top of Jensen’s, stopping Jensen’s nervous movement.  
  
“It’s just,” Jensen started unsure of how exactly to say what he wanted, “my family is going to love you, that I’m not worried about. But I was just wondering if we could keep--”  
  
Jared cut in finishing his sentence for him, “Keep what I do for a living on the down low?” Jared smiled and Jensen relaxed a little.  
  
“Yeah, I mean, you’re okay with it and I’m okay with it but my parents are still some old-fashioned, church-goers from Texas, ya know?”  
  
Jared brought Jensen’s hand to his mouth and kissed it, “Do they have a problem with bartenders? I could just tell them I work at a bar, that’s not so bad is it?”  
  
“That would be perfect,” Jensen smiled weakly, “You’re okay with this right? I don’t want you to lie if it’ll make you uncomfortable.”  
  
Jared chuckled, “It’s not completely lying, I do bartend some nights when Todd needs a shift covered. It’s fine. I’m happy to play along.”  
  
Jensen breathed a sigh of relief. They spent the rest of the flight working on Jensen’s crossword and watching some romantic comedy about a guy who ends up with the girl of his dreams in some dramatic way that made Jensen roll his eyes.  
  
Once they’d landed in Dallas they found a driver waiting for them near baggage claim, “Guess no one could take the time to come get us,” Jensen said under his breath.  
  
“Hey at least we didn’t have to find our own way home!” Jared beamed. Jensen rolled his eyes and followed the driver out to the car. It was a long ride from the airport to Jensen’s parents house, he sat nervously next to Jared, unable to stop moving.  
  
Jared put a firm hand on Jensen’s knee which had been bouncing non stop since they’d left, Jensen relaxed under the touch, “Why are you so freaking nervous about going home, Jensen?”  
  
“I’m not, I mean, I am but I don’t know.”  
  
“Is it me?” Jared asked.  
  
Jensen turned in his seat to face Jared more, “It’s not you, like I said before, they’re going to love you.”  
  
“Then what is it?”  
  
“Honestly? I have no idea. I just wish we’d get there already,” Jensen sighed, turning his attention to the window once again. Jared kept his hand on Jensen’s knee rubbing soothing circles with his thumb.  
  
Several moments later Jensen spoke again, “I’m nervous about what you’ll think of my family.”  
  
“What?” Jared asked.  
  
“My family. They’re....different,” Jensen said with worry in his eyes.  
  
Jared cocked his head, unsure of what Jensen was implying, “What do you mean?”  
  
“I mean, look at this,” he said motioning to the car, “they sent a driver to come get us. They’re just...different.”  
  
“You mean they’re rich?”  
  
Jensen flinched at the word, “More like spoiled.”  
  
Jared laughed, “Oh Jensen, I don’t care about shit like that. This week will be fun. They’ll love me, I’ll love them, everyone already loves you. Stop worrying.”  
  
Jared leaned over and placed a kiss on Jensen’s lips. Instantly, Jensen felt better about going home and a little exhilarated with Jared’s usage of ‘love’.  
  
A little while later they pulled up to a large gate, Jensen jumped out to enter a code, the gate slowly opened and the driver took them up the long driveway to the biggest house Jared had ever seen.  
  
“Holy shit,” he muttered under his breath.  
  
“I tried to warn you.”  
  
Jared couldn’t help but gape at the sight. Jensen’s parents lived in a huge, two story, red brick house with a white wrap around porch, and on the second floor a balcony overlooking their land. Jared took a moment to look around and realized he couldn’t see another house anywhere.  
  
“This all theirs?” he asked motioning to the land.  
  
“Yeah,” Jensen said quietly. He grabbed Jared by the shoulder and pulled him towards the trunk to get their luggage.  
  
Jensen tipped the driver who nodded politely and left, then the two boys headed inside the house.  
  


  
“Holy shit,” Jared said again looking around at the entryway, a large staircase to the left and a long hallway leading to what looked like a huge room or two, paintings covered the walls.  
  
“Jensen? Is that you?” they heard Jensen’s mom call from somewhere in the house.  
  
“Yeah it’s us,” Jensen called back as he took Jared by the hand and led him towards his mother’s voice.  
  
“I’m in the kitchen!” she hollered back. They walked through a hallway and turned left reaching the kitchen.  
  
“Hi momma,” Jensen said warmly, his mom hurried over and threw her arms around her son.  
  
“Oh baby, I’m so glad you’re home,” his mother whispered into his ear, holding onto him tightly. Jared stood there watching with a huge smile on his face, happy to see such a warm embrace. She let go of Jensen and turned her attention to Jared, “And you must be Jared,” she said sweetly and pulled him down into gripping hug.  
  
After letting him go she went back to working on what looked like a pie, “How was your flight dear? You found the driver okay I take it?”  
  
“The flight was fine, momma. And thanks for the driver, you didn’t have to,” Jensen said.  
  
“Of course I did! I am your mother,” she exclaimed, she stopped working and looked right at the boys again, “I really am so happy you both are here.”  
  
“It’s great to be here, Mrs. Ackles,” Jared offered.  
  
“Oh honey, you can call me Donna,” Donna smiled.  
  
“So, dad at work?” Jensen asked, Jensen motioned for Jared to follow him and they walked to the kitchen island where Donna worked on her pie and sat at the bar stools.  
  
“Yes, you know your father, always working hard. He’ll be home for dinner though,” Donna checked her watch, “Oh dear! I’m going to be late picking up your sister if I don’t get out of here.”  
  
Jensen stood abruptly, “We’ll go get her.”  
  
“But you just got home, you sure you want to rush out so soon?” Donna asked.  
  
“It’s just to pick her up, I miss her. I’d love to go, you want to?” he asked Jared.  
  
Jared shrugged, “I’d love to.”  
  
“Well, okay you two go on ahead. That’ll give me enough time to get this pie in the oven. You like pie don’t you dear?” Donna asked in Jared’s direction.  
  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
  
“Jared loves any food, momma. That’s how he got so tall,” Jensen teased. Jared playfully pushed his shoulder and Jensen pushed back. Donna stood there watching with a smile on her face, “Well good, we’ll feed you right up while you’re here then. Now you boys better get going so Mackenzie doesn’t have to wait long.”  
  
Jensen grabbed the keys in the dish by the door and they made their way to the garage to get the car.  
  
“I really like your mom,” Jared offered sitting in the passenger seat as Jensen drove to Mackenzie’s school.  
  
Jensen smiled, “She definitely is enthusiastic, that’s for sure.”  
  
“I think she’s sweet.”  
  
Jensen turned, grabbed Jared’s hand and brought it to his mouth to kiss.  
  
Jensen parked across the street from the school in the shade, they got out and leaned against the side of the car to wait for Mackenzie.  
  
The moment she recognized who was picking her up from school she sprinted over to them and threw herself into Jensen’s arms.  
  
“Jensen!” she exclaimed.  
  
“Hey little sister,” Jensen said putting her down on her feet, “this is Jared.”  
  
“Hi,” Mackenzie said shyly looking up at him under her long lashes making her look way too much like Jensen. Jared could definitely see the resemblance, she was basically a miniature girl version of Jensen, Jared thought it was adorable.  
  
“Oh so what you’re shy now?” Jensen teased which made Mackenzie’s cheeks go red.  
  
Jared pushed Jensen away, “Ignore him. Hi, Mackenzie,” Jared said extending his hand.  
  
Mackenzie very shyly shook his hand. Then the three of them then piled into the car and headed home.  
  
From the backseat Mackenzie asked, “Is he your boyfriend?” drawing out the end of the last word.  
  
Jensen looked over at Jared and smiled, “Yes, he’s my boyfriend,” Jensen answered drawing out the end of the last word mimicking Mackenzie.  
  
“Do you kiss him?” she asked mischievously.  
  
“Yes, lots of times,” Jared answered sending Mackenzie into a fit of giggles, “But not while he’s driving.”  
  
Jensen pulled up at a red light, “Unless, of course, we’re at a redlight,” Jensen leaned over and met Jared’s lips with his own.  
  
“Ew!” Mackenzie yelled out as she continued to giggle.  
  
Back at the house Mackenzie jumped out of the car and ran inside, Jensen grabbed her abandoned backpack from the back seat and walked with Jared up the walkway to the front door. Halfway there Jared stopped them, threaded his fingers with Jensen’s and wrapped his arm around him. They kissed long and sweet, Jensen parting his lips to invite Jared’s tongue in.  
  
Completely lost in the moment they didn’t notice when the front door opened to reveal Jensen’s dad standing there. He cleared his throat and it made Jensen jump out of his skin, “Sorry sir,” he said, head pointed down.  
  
Jensen’s dad took a step forward, “Oh, don’t stop on my account, I was just wondering when you two were going to come up for air.”  
  
Jensen raised his head to meet his father’s eyes and he was smiling, Jensen breathed a sigh of relief. Jensen’s father was dressed in a navy suit with a bright blue tie contrasting nicely with his white dress shirt under his suit coat.  
  
“Dad, this is Jared. Jared this is my father,” Jensen introduced.  
  
The two men shook hands, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Ackles.”  
  
“You too, Jared but please, call me Alan,” Jared nodded and Alan turned to head inside, “Now come on you two, get these bags put away before your poor mom trips over them.”  
  
Jensen and Jared picked up their bags they’d left at the foot of the stairs on their way into the house before picking up Mackenzie.  
  
“Jared, you’re free to pick whichever guest room upstairs suits you best,” he paused for a moment looking between Jared and Jensen, “Unless of course you’d rather just stay in Jensen’s room,” Jensen’s cheeks went red and Jared choked on a laugh.  
  
“Go on, get settled,” Alan shooed them with his hand, “Dinner will be ready in an hour. Jensen make sure you show Jared around so he knows where everything is. Make yourself at home Jared, enjoy your spring break.”  
  
“Thank you, sir,” Jared said and then followed Jensen up the stairs.  
  
At the top of the stairs Jared turned to Jensen, “No, but seriously, why were you so freaked out before we got here? Your family is amazing.”  
  
“I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, to be honest,” Jensen said and led Jared into his childhood room.  
  
Jensen’s room was painted tan and a dark blue bedspread covered the full-sized bed, he had a desk at one wall, a dresser on the other and in one corner an old radio sat on a little table. Atop the dresser were framed pictures of his family, Jared took a moment and looked at each picture, one of him and Mackenzie when she was baby, one of them when she was a little bit older, one that must have been taken at Christmas because Mackenzie didn’t look much younger than she does now, he smiled at their dorky Christmas sweaters, one of the whole family, Jared noticed an older boy in that one standing with an arm slung around Jensen’s shoulders. Jared didn’t remember Jensen ever talking about having a brother and compared to all the other pictures with his little sister Jensen looked less than thrilled to be taking a picture with the other boy.  
  
“Hey Jensen, who is this?” Jared asked pointing to the family picture.  
  
Jensen walked over to the dresser to look at the picture and sighed. He walked over to his bed and sat down, “That’s Josh, my older brother.”  
  
“I’ve never heard you talk about him.”  
  
Jensen shrugged, “Not much to talk about.”  
  
Jared turned and looked at the picture again, looked like it was summertime, everyone in shorts and tshirts, everyone smiling except Jensen who just looked bored. Josh and Jensen looked almost identical except Josh a little rounder face, not as striking features, and a couple inches taller. He looked normal, no one else seemed to have a problem with him in the picture.  
  
Jared turned back around to Jensen who was lying on his back staring up at the ceiling, knees bent with his feet resting on the edge of the bed.  
  
“What happened, Jensen?” Jared asked as he walked over to Jensen and fitted himself between Jensen’s legs, resting his hands on Jensen’s knees.  
  
Jensen pushed himself up on his elbows, “May as well tell you since chances are he’s going to show up sometime this week,” Jensen pat the space next to him on the bed and Jared climbed up, lying down beside Jensen as he told him about his older brother Josh.  
  
“Josh is three years older than I am, ever since I was a kid he’s had it out for me. I don’t ever remember us having a good relationship. He used to beat me up pretty good, leave bruises all over me. When my mom would go to give me a bath I’d tell her it was Josh but Josh was such a good kid that she thought I was exaggerating and that we must have just been playing too hard.”  
  
“This went on for years and Josh scared me into thinking that if I told anyone again he’d just hurt me more. When Josh got into high school he got mixed up with some rough kids, you know, drugs, alcohol, grades dropping in school, that kind of thing. Soon, Josh got really fucked up, developed a coke problem and started stealing money from our parents.”  
  
“It got really bad when my parents got smart about their money and he had to find other means of getting cash. Someone told my dad he saw Josh downtown one night, my dad drove down there and found Josh blowing some dude in a back alley. That was the last straw, they threw him out of the house for that,” Jared understood a bit better why Jensen’s parents would be all but thrilled to hear about Jared’s real job.  
  
Jensen continued, “Josh ended up showing up at our house one night a few weeks later with some friends, totally high out of their minds. I was home alone with Mackenzie who was only like two years old at the time, she was asleep in her crib. They came looking for money, they held me down, kicked my ass when I wouldn’t tell them where any cash was.”  
  
“They bent my arm so hard behind my back they broke it. And you know me, I couldn’t fight back. That’s just not me, I don’t fight. So, at that point I wasn’t even scared for myself, I was just terrified they were going to find Mackenzie sleeping and do something to her. I mean, what if they had found her? What if they had done something to her? Hurt her?” Jensen sat up abruptly, looking intently at Jared, trying hard to blink back the tears forming in his eyes. “He didn’t care about her, he didn’t care about any of us! What if he had done something to her, I couldn’t have lived with that!”  
  
Jared slowly sat up, softly put his hand to Jensen’s cheek, “They didn’t. You protected her,” Jared reassured.  
  
Jensen weakly nodded his head looking down remembering that awful night, “They ended up leaving and I had to sit around for two hours with a broken arm until my parents got home.”  
  
Jensen laid back down next to Jared who turned, slung an arm over Jensen’s waist, and nuzzled his face in Jensen’s shoulder.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Jared whispered.  
  
“It’s okay. I didn’t see him again for two years after that, thought he was dead, kinda hoped he was. He wasn’t though, he showed up at my graduation, hid behind the bleachers. Don’t know why he showed but I was really happy to leave Texas and get as far away from him as possible.”  
  
“You haven’t seen him since?”  
  
Jensen sighed, “No, I’ve seen him. He usually pops in whenever he hears I’m in town. Remember when I said I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop? This is what I was talking about.”  
  
They were quiet for a moment, Jensen just letting himself be hugged on by Jared, enjoying the feeling of someone so close and comfortable.  
  
But then Jensen sat up, “Come on, dinner’ll be ready soon.”  
  
He started to get up when Jared pulled him back on top of him kissing him strongly. Jensen melted into the kiss, into the embrace of Jared’s warm body against his.  
  
Jensen reluctantly pulled away after a minute, “We really do need to go downstairs.”  
  
Jared smiled wide, “I know, I just couldn’t resist.”  
  
“And I love that about you,” Jensen said kissing Jared once more.  
  
They made their way downstairs and into the dining room, the table was fully set with beautiful plates and a centerpiece made of yellow and orange flowers.  
  
“It looks lovely, Donna,” Jared said impressed.  
  
“Thanks baby, now both of you sit,” Donna hurried over to the stove, grabbed a plate of chicken and a serving bowl of rice and brought them to the table then headed back for more. Alan appeared in the doorway, “Smells wonderful, dear,” he said as he took his seat at the head of the table. Jared almost felt like he was in a black and white 1950’s television show. He smiled at the thought of it.  
  
“Mackenzie Grace you get your behind down here right now, dinner is ready!” Donna hollered. Mackenzie came bouncing down the stairs enthusiastically apologizing for having to be called and took her seat across from Jensen. When Donna got to the table and sat down they held hands to say grace. Alan thanked God for the food and the hands that prepared it, he thanked Him for the safe travels of Jared and Jensen, and he thanked Him for family and life. When the prayer was over everyone started passing food around and digging in.  
  
“So Jared,” Alan started in between bites of chicken, “where do you work?”  
  
“Dad!” Jensen groaned.  
  
“What? I’m just curious,” Alan explained.  
  
Jared wiped his mouth with his napkin, “No, it’s okay, I don’t mind. I work at a club in the city, I make drinks.”  
  
“You a bartender?” Alan asked.  
  
“Yes sir,” Jared replied.  
  
“So, you could make me a White Russian?”  
  
“Dad, no. Please stop,” Jensen begged, he turned to Jared, “He’s joking, you don’t really have to make him anything.”  
  
Jared put a hand on Jensen’s and offered him a reassuring smile, letting him know he was okay.  
  
“Jensen, I’m just getting to know your boy. No harm in that, right?” Alan asked, “I mean, he is your boy right? What I saw out on the porch isn’t something two friends get up to in Washington now is it?”  
  
“I saw them kiss in the car!” Mackenzie squealed.  
  
Jensen groaned and buried his head in his hands.  
  
“Maybe we should change the subject, we’re clearly making poor Jensen uncomfortable,” Donna suggested but Alan wasn’t finished, “No, I just want to make sure that Jared’s intentions are honorable. Are they?”  
  
Jensen’s head shot up as he gave his dad a pleading look.  
  
Jared held his ground, “Yes sir, my intentions are very honorable.”  
  
“Dad, you’ve never asked anyone else what their intentions were with me.”  
  
“You’ve never brought home a man before, son. I know how men think, I need to make sure Jared here knows how good of a man he’s got.”  
  
“I know very well how good of a man Jensen is, sir. I’m very grateful for Jensen being in my life,” Jared said confidently.  
  
Jensen turned to Jared, “Really, you don’t have to do this. I don’t know why he’s giving you so much trouble.”  
  
“It’s okay,” Jared whispered giving Jensen a comforting smile.  
  
Alan broke out into a laugh, “I like you. You hold your own.”  
  
Jared gave Alan a nod and a look that said ‘I told you so’ to Jensen.  
  
The topic of discussion quickly changed to what Jensen had been up to at his own work with the radio station. Jensen told in great, enthusiastic detail about all the different shows they were setting up and how they were getting a lot more traffic on their website and more callers during their shows. Jensen’s parents listened very intently, asking questions and being genuinely involved in the conversation Jensen so passionately loved to talk about. It made Jared smile, he loved knowing that back here in Texas Jensen had a family that adored him and that understood him unlike so many people back in Washington.  
  
Sitting in Jensen’s childhood home, surrounded by his family who had been nothing less than completely welcoming and loving towards Jared, eating delicious home-cooked food, and things being so good between him and Jensen, Jared couldn’t help but feel overcome by emotion. His heart felt three sizes too big, he had intense urges to reach out and pull Jensen into a loving kiss. It took every ounce of strength in him not to, instead he focused on his food and ate quietly.  
  
“So, Jared, tell us about your family. Do you have any siblings?” Donna asked breaking him out of his quiet thoughts.  
  
“Yeah actually, I’ve got a little sister,” Jared said shooting Mackenzie a grin.  
  
“Like me?” She asked.  
  
“A lot like you,” Jared laughed, “She’s a little bit older though, she’s already in high school.”  
  
Mackenzie smiled shyly, “I bet she’s really cool.”  
  
Jared bent his head a little to look Mackenzie in the eyes, “She thinks so,” he said with a wink causing Mackenzie to blush. Just like Jensen, he thought.  
  
“What about your father? Mother?” Alan wondered.  
  
Jared took a moment before answering, “Well, to be honest, I don’t ever see my father. He lives in San Antonio but my mother lives in Washington with my little sister so I see them all the time.”  
  
“Why don’t you see your father?” Alan asked.  
  
“My mom left him when I was in high school.” Jared said quietly.  
  
Donna quietly cleared her throat, looking at Alan, “Dear, this isn’t appropriate for the dinner table.”  
  
Alan nodded, understanding, “Well Jared, sometimes it’s better for people to be gone from your life than for them to be in it causing problems.”  
  
“I agree with you completely, sir,” Jared said.  
  
After dinner, the boys helped Donna clear the table and Mackenzie very reluctantly went upstairs for bed but not before giving both Jensen and Jared giant hugs each.  
  
“I’m really glad you’re here,” She told Jared only loud enough for him to hear.  
  
He smiled down at her and replied, “I’m really glad I’m here too.”  
  
Alan offered to sit outside on the back porch and drink coffee with the boys but Jensen couldn’t stop yawning so they decided to hold off until another night. Instead they said goodnight and headed upstairs.  
  
The second the door was closed and locked behind them Jared was all over Jensen. His hands on his shoulders and down his back, his lips hot against Jensen’s. Jensen was a bit surprised but fell instantly into a rhythm with Jared pulling him closer by the hips. Lips parted, inviting tongues in, tasting and exploring. Jared brought his hands to cradle Jensen’s face, holding him there kissing him desperately, trying to share everything that had been building up inside him since they got there. They fell back onto Jensen’s bed, clothes flying as they pulled shirts and pants off each other as fast as they could.  
  
Jared pulled back, he held himself up on his arms and gazed down at Jensen. Jensen’s eyes glazed over in want and desire, lips apart, slick and swollen from kissing, his chest moved up and down with each quick breath. Jared dipped his head to suck on Jensen’s bottom lip and Jensen let out a quieted moan.  
  
“Jensen, there’s something I have to tell you and I should wait until we’re back home in Washington but I can’t wait that long, I feel like I’m going to explode,” Jared panted out all in one heavy breath.  
  
“Okay, what is it?” Jensen worried.  
  
Jared bent down again, placing a loving kiss to Jensen’s lips, “I am so fucking in love with you.”  
  
Jared’s heart hammered in his chest as he waited for a response, he watched as a smile slowly formed on Jensen’s face, his eyes full of emotion, “I’m in love with you too, Jared.”  
  
Jared let his head drop, completely relieved at the response, he felt fingers thread through his hair and he looked up at Jensen, “I really, really love you, Jared.” Then they kissed like they’d never kissed before and it was good, it was so good.  
  
They moved slowly but with determination, each movement had a purpose. Jared kissed Jensen down along his jaw to his throat, focusing on the part that Jensen loved so much, down to his chest and flicking his tongue out against each hardened nipple. Jensen rocked his hips into Jared’s, adding much needed friction to his achingly hard cock.  
  
Jensen reached over into the bedside table and pulled out a bottle of lube. Jared immediately took it and poured some out over his fingers, letting it slide down slowly. He leaned in kissing Jensen, licking into his mouth, tasting him. While he kissed him he gently circled Jensen’s puckered skin before pushing a finger deep inside him. Jensen threw his head back, arching his back, pushing deeper against Jared’s hand. Holding his own body down on Jensen’s, Jared pulled his finger slowly out only to push in two fingers on the return.  
  
“Oh fuck,” Jensen groaned and Jared covered his mouth with his own, kissing him deeply as he worked Jensen opened. Jensen writhed underneath Jared’s weight, at his touch he was coming undone, “More Jared, need more,” he begged.  
  
“Mmmm,” Jared purred, “I’ll give you everything you need Jensen, everything.”  
  
He slowly removed his fingers from Jensen and ran them down his dick, slicking it with the lube. And then in one careful push he was buried deep inside Jensen. Indescribable heat holding tightly to Jared’s cock and it took all of him not to blow his load right then.  
  
With Jensen mumbling incoherencies of pleasure into Jared’s ear, Jared moved swiftly in and out. Jensen wrapped his legs around Jared bringing the man closer, deeper inside him. Quickening the pace Jared slammed into Jensen sending every nerve of his into overdrive, pleasure sprung up from every point in his body. Orgasms built deep within their bodies ready to implode at a moment’s notice. Jared brought his lips to Jensen’s, heated kisses exchanged and Jared’s thrusts became fast and erratic.  
  
“Fuck, Jensen,” Jared moaned, he grabbed Jensen’s swollen dick and pumped it, once, twice, before Jensen was biting off a moan as he came. Jared’s orgasm closely behind, blocking everything out except him and Jensen, the man he was so deeply in love with, nothing else mattered. Coming down from orgasm Jared let himself down completely, full body encompassing Jensen’s, all weight and heat bearing down. For a moment both men lay there catching their breath, Jensen lightly grazing his fingers along Jared’s back as Jared nuzzled into Jensen’s neck.  
  
Jared moved to pull out of his lover when Jensen stopped him, “Don’t,” Jensen whispered, “not yet,” Jared stayed, pulling himself closer to Jensen and soon sleep overtook both of them.  
  


  
In the morning Jensen woke to being completely wrapped up by Jared, arms and legs clinging to him as his head rested on Jensen’s shoulder. If it wasn’t for the incredible urge to pee he would have stayed there forever, soaking in every inch of skin pressed to his own. Jensen thought for a moment, trying to figure out why last night was unlike any night they’d shared before and why right now Jensen literally could not stop smiling if he tried. And then it hit him, Jared loved him. Jared loved him undeniably. Jensen had thought maybe he had, had felt something between them that he figured was love but he’d never heard those words from someone before. Never thought he’d actually feel the way the words were supposed to feel. But here and now, in this perfect moment of time, he felt safe and protected, loved and cherished, and Jensen knew this was forever. Even as illogical as that was. Jensen figured that’s what love was and hell if it felt this good, he didn’t care.  
  
Still desperately needing to pee, Jensen carefully pried himself away from Jared’s grasp and tiptoed across his childhood bedroom to the adjoining bathroom. After relieving himself, he looked in the mirror and almost didn’t recognize the man looking back at him. There was a softness to him he couldn’t ever remember seeing before, like a wall around him had fallen and what was left was something fresh. He couldn’t help but smile at the revelation.  
  
He heard movement in his room and in a second Jared opened the bathroom door to Jensen washing his hands, “Dude, what if I had been takin’ a shit?” Jensen asked teasingly.  
  
Jared stood tall, eyes barely open, hair sticking out everywhere, he shrugged, “Mornin’,” was all he could manage, his voice thick with sleep.  
  
Jensen closed the space between them, brought his hands to Jared’s face and pulled him down into a deep kiss. Jared growled into Jensen’s mouth, pushed him back into the counter then lifted him so that Jensen sat, bare ass on top. Jared stood between his legs, head tilted up mapping out Jensen’s mouth with his tongue. His hands resting on Jensen’s hips, thumbs painting circles on the bone there. They stayed there kissing in the bathroom, Jensen sucking Jared’s tongue into his mouth as Jared dug fingers deep into Jensen’s hips. Jensen ran his fingers up Jared’s cheeks, into his hair and curled tightly, continuing to kiss him deeply.  
  
Jared pulled back after a while to rest his face on Jensen’s chest, Jensen leaned into the embrace and wrapped his arms around Jared’s shoulders.  
  
“I love you, Jensen, really, truly, completely, love you.”  
  
Jensen hugged him tighter, “I love you too, Jay and last night was amazing.”  
  
Jared stood up, smile teasing his lips, “It was amazing, wasn’t? Man, I am good.”  
  
An abrupt laugh escaped from Jensen, he loved how easy everything was with Jared.  
  
“We should shower,” Jensen started, “then go eat some breakfast, I smell bacon.”  
  
“No, that’s just me, I tend to smell like fried pork in the morning after a night of hot sex,” Jared stated with a wag to his eyebrows.  
  
Jensen jumped down from the counter, “You are such a loser,” he teased, he walked towards the shower but Jared grabbed his wrist, turning him, “A loser you’re in love with.”  
  
“True,” Jensen sighed as he kissed Jared again.  
  


  
On their way downstairs more smells of cooking breakfast made its way to Jared’s nose. His stomach grumbled with anticipation of what was sure to be an amazing breakfast made by Jensen’s mother. As they turned the corner, however, Jared found Alan standing at the stove flipping pancakes.  
  
“It’s about time you two got up!” he drawled, “Grab some plates and set the table before your momma gets down here.”  
  
Jensen walked to the cupboard and pulled out plates to hand to Jared, “Oh and good morning.” Alan winked. They set the table just in time for Donna and Mackenzie to arrive from upstairs, Donna in a beautiful sundress and Mackenzie still in pajamas. Mackenzie ran over and hugged tight her big brother who bent down and picked her up. It was obvious to Jared how much the two missed each other while he was away at school. Jensen carried her to the table and dropped her in her seat but not before placing a giant, sloppy kiss to her cheek that she immediately wiped away.  
  
Jensen caught Jared watching the interaction and his cheeks filled pink, Jared’s heart swelled and he wanted to wrap his arms around Jensen placing his own giant, sloppy kiss to the man, but he refrained. Instead, he sat at his seat from the night before as Donna asked him how he slept.  
  
“Wonderfully, thank you again for inviting me here.”  
  
“It’s our pleasure dear. Anyone important to Jensen, is always welcome here. We’re actually surprised he found someone deemed important enough to bring home...especially so soon,” Donna said with a pointed look at her son.  
  
“Mom,” Jensen warned.  
  
Playing innocent, Donna responded, “What? It’s true. How long did it take for him to bring Lisa home, dear?”  
  
Alan thought for a moment, “I think it was nearly two years before we ever got to see her.”  
  
“Dad,” Jensen warned, a little louder this time. Jared sat sipping his coffee, enjoying the back and forth playful teasing of Jensen’s parents.  
  
“You know, Jared,” Donna started, leaning in slightly, lowering her voice but still loud enough for everyone to hear, “he made her sleep in one of the guest rooms.”  
  
“Mom!” Jensen exclaimed and the whole table broke into playful laughter, “If you don’t stop talking about this, I’m going to take my pancakes and eat outside!”  
  
“Okay dear, I’m sorry. We’re just really happy that you’re happy now,” Donna smiled.  
  
The conversation moved from Jensen’s previous love life to other things as they all enjoyed their breakfast together. When they were finished, Jared and Jensen helped Mackenzie clear the table and fill the dishwasher.  
  
“What are you guys going to do today?” she asked eagerly.  
  
Jared looked to Jensen to answer, Jensen wiped his hands on the dishtowel he was holding, “Well, I figured I’d show him around here since we didn’t get to that yesterday and then into town for a bit. Tonight, if you’re good,” he said, poking Mackenzie in the belly which she giggled at, “we’ll take you out for ice cream.”  
  
Mackenzie jumped in place, “Without momma or daddy?”  
  
“Without momma or daddy,” Jensen smiled as Mackenzie jumped in place some more clearly excited to go out with her big brother. Jared thought about maybe stepping out of the date to give Jensen and Mackenzie time alone together but figured he’d bring it up to Jensen in private later.  
  
After they were finished cleaning up breakfast Jensen took Jared around on a house tour, “This is obviously the kitchen and dining room and in here is the living room.”  
  
They walked through to the next room which was a large, open area with lots of couches and recliners, a beautiful coffee table, a fireplace on the far wall and a huge television mounted on the wall the couches were all facing. There was a section of the wall with various framed family pictures, Jared took a step closer to look at each of them. Jared found one that had one picture from each year Jensen was in school circling a larger picture that looked to be from his high school graduation. It blew Jared away to be able to see a glimpse of Jensen growing up a little bit each year in the pictures. He saw that in second grade Jensen got his glasses, a bit too big for his face at the time but adorable nonetheless. He also noticed that in the sixth grade picture there was a very noticeable black eye under his wire rims and a fire burned steady in his stomach as he assumed it was brought on by his older brother.  
  
He moved along admiring each of the other pictures, trying hard not to smile too wide and sent sideway glances to Jensen who was also looking over some of the frames.  
  
“Wow, I haven’t looked at these in a long time,” Jensen admitted, taking a step back and running a hand through his short hair, “Man, I was a weird looking kid.”  
  
Jared shot him a disbelieving look, “No you weren’t, I think you were cute.”  
  
“Yeah, well I got my ass kicked for it a couple times,” Jensen shifted weight from one foot to the other, obviously uncomfortable, “Come on, there’s more to show you.”  
  
More of that fire burned inside Jared at the thought of anyone causing harm to Jensen, especially as a defenseless kid.  
  
Jensen headed off into the hallway making Jared hurry after him, “This is my parent’s bedroom,” he said pointing to a closed door, “I’ll save you the torment from having to go in there.”  
  
Jared chuckled shaking his head, he stepped up to Jensen and threaded his fingers with Jensen’s, Jensen gave him a sideways glance and smiled.  
  
“That’s my dad’s office,” Jensen was about to turn away when he remembered something, “Oh! I have to show you something in here!” he excitedly walked into his father’s office which was all dark wood, dark green walls, with a leather couch by the wide window and bookcases lining the room. Above one of the shorter bookcases was a framed picture of the Dallas Cowboys covered in signatures, Jensen pointed up at it, “Pretty cool, huh?”  
  
Jared marveled at it, it was pretty cool, he was a huge Cowboy’s fan himself and this was pretty awesome, “Wicked.”  
  
“Right? Dad’s one of the team’s accountants. He got this for Christmas. I was totally jealous.”  
  
Jared watched as Jensen stared up at it, a smile openly across his face. Jared could never tire from that face. Jensen turned quickly to catch Jared looking at him and he blinked slowly before leaning in to kiss him. Jensen’s warm lips felt so good on his own, “Have I told you how much I love that you’re here?” Jensen asked.  
  
“Maybe not with your words,” Jared replied and Jensen kissed him again, slow and sweet.  
  
Once they were upstairs Jensen showed him the guest room next to the stairs and then another large, open room, “Here’s the family room but from the looks of it, Mackenzie has turned it into her own personal hang out area,” There were more couches, big and comfortable, with a loving touch of Mackenzie who replaced the original throw pillows with pink and purple fuzzy ones. There was a tv and gaming system, dvds and board games, bean bags in one corner and a pool table in another. Again there were framed family pictures along one of the walls but Jensen pulled him back into the hallway before Jared could take a good look.  
  
“Here’s another guest room, nothing exciting and here,” he knocked lightly, “Mackenzie do you want to show Jared your room?” he asked through the door.  
  
“Okay!” he heard her exclaim on the inside and Jared caught Jensen rolling his eyes. He slowly opened the door, Mackenzie was lying on her bed, feet up in the air as she drew in a notebook.  
  
“Momma won’t let me go play with Libby until after lunch!” Mackenzie complained.  
  
Jensen walked over and sat on the edge of her bed, “Well how about after you show Jared your room you can take him down to meet Diego?” Mackenzie’s face suddenly lit up at her brother’s words, her eyes grew huge and a smile erupted on her face.  
  
“Do you want to Jared?” she asked excitedly.  
  
“Sure!” Jared said, unknowing who Diego was but apparently Mackenzie was excited enough for the both of them.  
  
Mackenzie cheered and then hastily showed him her room, “This is my bed,” she said pointing to her purple bedspread, “That’s my desk, that’s my dollhouse, those are my dolls, up there are my trophies,” Jared looked up and sure enough a dozen or so trophies sat proudly on a shelf but before he had a chance to ask about them Mackenzie moved on, “there’s my bathroom and there’s my closet. Okay! Now let’s go see Diego!” she yelled jumping onto Jensen’s back.  
  
Jensen happily carried her out of the room and down the stairs. They made their way back out to the living room and through the back doors into their huge backyard. The grass expanded out into dense trees, Jensen led them towards the right along a path to which Jared quickly realized were stables. Diego must be Mackenzie’s horse. When they got close Jensen let Mackenzie down from his back and she quickly ran the rest of the way inside. He grabbed Jared’s hand and walked hand in hand with him the rest of the way.  
  
After Mackenzie showed off her horse proudly to Jared, Jensen reminded her not to take him out unless their mom was there with her. Jensen received an ‘Duh Jensen, I’m not an idiot.’ in response. Then Jensen took Jared’s hand again and they walked along the path further away from the house. It was a beautiful spring day in Texas, warm but not too hot, everything was in bloom and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  
  
Just past some trees Jared could see a small lake, “I spent a lot of summer days out here,” Jensen shared as they got closer, “I used to pack a bag with lots of food and water, some books and just come out here until it got dark then I’d race back so I wouldn’t be late for dinner.”  
  
“Sounds like a good way to spend summer,” Jared replied.  
  
Jensen stopped them, turned to Jared and kissed him, “It really was. Somehow, I like it even more now,” he smirked looking up at Jared and his insides twisted up in desire. Jared glanced around, “What are the chances Mackenzie’s going to come down here.”  
  
“She won’t,” Jensen hummed bringing Jared down into another kiss, “Come here,” he pulled Jared further away and into an area with lots of grey boulders. They climbed up and over a few until Jensen found a flat one blocked by a larger one. Jensen sat down and stripped his shirt immediately then leaned back on his elbows, pointing his face to the sun. Jared had seen Jensen without his shirt hundreds of times but for some reason in this moment, with the sun shining down on freckled skin and a smile on Jensen’s lips, Jared needed his hands on him urgently. He pulled his own shirt off and knelt down next to Jensen, he leaned over and peppered kisses along Jensen’s shoulder and collarbone.  
  
“Mmm,” Jensen moaned into the touch, he craned his neck to the side and Jared moved in placing kisses on his neck and working the area that sent shivers down Jensen’s spine. He moved to his mouth, not even waiting for an invitation before slipping his tongue in. Jensen welcomed the surprise and kissed back, tangling their tongues. Jensen laid back against the rock warmed by the sun and pulled Jared down with him.  
  
They laid for a while sharing lazy kisses as Jensen ran his fingers through Jared’s soft hair and Jared playing with Jensen’s perky nipple.  
  
“Jensen?” Jared asked after several minutes.  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Why didn’t you let Lisa stay in your bedroom when she was here?” Jared asked, laying his head down on Jensen listening to his heart thrum in his chest.  
  
Jensen let out an unexpected laugh, “Why does it matter?”  
  
“It doesn’t really. I’m just curious,” Jared explained.  
  
“I dunno, guess I just didn’t want her sleepin’ in my bed,” Jensen chuckled, “I like my space.”  
  
Jared was quiet for a moment, “Would you rather I sleep in the guest room too?”  
  
“What? Jared, no,” Jensen lifted Jared’s chin with his finger so that he was looking him in the eye, “The best thing about my space is that you’re usually in it. Hell, if I could have you in my bed every night, I would,” He let go of Jared’s chin and placed a kiss on the top of his head, “I was never in love with Lisa. She was just convenient and I know that makes me an asshole but I swear, that’s not what this is.”  
  
Jared smiled, “I know,” and he pressed a kiss to Jensen’s bare chest.  
  


  
Later that afternoon Jensen took Jared around town and ended up in the old bookstore.  
  
“I don’t have any real reason to bring you here but I do want to check to see if they have something,” Jensen told Jared.  
  
“Fine with me, I like bo--”  
  
“Well, look who it is. Mr. Jensen Ackles,” a voice boomed from an aisle over. Jared glanced at Jensen a bit apprehensive but Jensen was smiling and shaking his head. They headed over to the other aisle and standing there was a shorter man, much slighter frame, looked to be their age with blonde hair. The two men hugged a bit longer than Jared would have expected and a tiny bit of jealousy tug at Jared’s insides. Jensen and the man parted but kept their hands on each other, held at a distance and Jared couldn’t quite figure out the significance of this guy.  
  
“You didn’t tell me you were coming to town and you especially didn’t tell me you were bringing a giant,” Jensen immediately let go of the man and turned his attention to Jared.  
  
He fit his arm around Jared’s waist, “This is my boyfriend Jared, Jared this is one of my oldest friends Ty.”  
  
Jared shook Ty’s hand then put his arm around Jensen’s shoulders, he was feeling a bit possessive but couldn’t bother to care. Ty looked between Jensen and Jared, a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, “So, boyfriend huh? What happened to Lisa?”  
  
“Didn’t work out. Doesn’t matter much now. So, what’s going on this week? Anything interesting?” Jensen asked, quickly changing the subject.  
  
“Yeah tomorrow night there’s a party at Wilson’s farm. You guys should come.” Jensen nodded at the invitation, “Oh, but I should warn you,” Ty looked around like he was looking to see if anyone else was around, “Josh is back. Been around the past couple of weeks hitting up Maddy’s. That’s all I know but I figured you’d want to know.”  
  
Jared’s stomach dropped as he watched all the color drain from Jensen’s face. Jensen didn’t say anything just nodded his head slightly, Ty patted him on the shoulder, “Well, I should probably go. Hope to see you guys tomorrow night,” He turned to leave, “Oh and Jensen, you’re not a wimpy kid anymore. Josh...” Ty looked at Jared, uncertainty in his eyes, “He can’t...ya know.”  
  
Ty gave one more look at Jared then headed out the door. Jared felt Jensen lean into him a bit like he was slowly deflating. Jared kissed the top of Jensen’s head, “It’s going to be okay, Jensen. We don’t even have to go to that party if you think he’ll show up.”  
  
Jensen nodded again, “Come on, let’s go home.”  
  
On their walk back to where they had parked the car earlier Jared tried to lighten the mood, “So, Ty,” Jensen looked up at Jared waiting for him to continue, “What’s the deal with you two?”  
  
Jensen laughed, “What do you mean?”  
  
“Oh come on Jensen, one of your oldest friends? Sure, but there’s something else there too.”  
  
Jensen shook his head, “Nah, not for a long time,” he smirked up at Jared and bumped his shoulder with his own.  
  
“But there was something?” Jared asked.  
  
“What’s it matter?”  
  
“It doesn’t, I just,” Jared paused for a second, “I just want to know everything about you.”  
  
Jensen’s face softened even more into an open smile, “Fine, only ‘cause you’re so cute.”  
  
“Ah, yes. One of my best qualities,” Jared replied putting both hands on his chest dramatically.  
  
“You are such a dork,” They reached the car and got in, Jensen told Jared about Ty on the drive home, “Ty and I were the best of friends growing up and then in our freshman year of high school something changed. There was a new intensity to our friendship which looking back on I realize was mostly hormones.”  
  
Jared laughed.  
  
“Shut up, I’m trying to tell you a story!” Jensen grunted so Jared quieted his laugh and let Jensen continue, “Anyway, we started fooling around a lot, nothing major, just gay first base,” Jensen cocked his head at Jared and wagged his eyebrows that sent Jared laughing again.  
  
Jensen got back to his story, “But, I don’t know, there was more there and I think it really freaked him out which ended up freaking me out. So, we stopped everything. We stopped hanging out, we stopped talking, it was really awkward for a while. Things are fine now though, anytime I come home we usually hang out but he always throws a comment about how straight he is at me.”  
  
Jensen started laughing and Jared wasn’t exactly sure why, “What?”  
  
“Nothing, it’s just meeting you probably really freaked him out,” Jensen kept laughing.  
  
“Why because you’re not Mr. Super Straight anymore like he is?” Jared teased.  
  
“I don’t think I was ever ‘Mr. Super Straight’ no matter how hard I tried,” Jensen changed his tone from light hearted and laughing to something more serious, “Like with Lisa, you know, I tried to do the whole, marry your girl, buy a house, have babies, I just didn’t get very far because deep down it was the ‘marry your girl’ part I wasn’t totally sold on.”  
  
Jared turned to look at Jensen, “But the ‘buy a house, have babies’ thing?”  
  
Jensen shrugged, “Maybe some day.”  
  
They pulled up to the gate of Jensen’s parent’s property and Jensen punched in the code to open it. They were quiet the rest of the drive up to the house and walked inside to find Donna on her way out.  
  
“You boys have fun today?” she asked sweetly.  
  
“I did. This is a great little town you have here,” Jared answered.  
  
“Yeah but we did a lot of walking and I’m tired, I think we’re just going to go lay down for a bit,” Jensen replied with a yawn.  
  
Donna patted her son’s cheek, “You go rest up. I’m on my way out to do some errands then pick up your sister. Dinner’s at six.”  
  
“Oh! Mom,” Jensen remembered his promise to take Mackenzie out for ice cream, “After dinner, Jared and I are going to take Mack out for ice cream, if that’s okay?”  
  
A warm smile danced across Donna’s face, “That sounds lovely dear, thank you.”  
  
Once they were upstairs, lying on Jensen’s bed pressed chest to back, Jensen recalled, “There was no passion.”  
  
Jared nuzzled lightly at Jensen’s neck, “What?”  
  
“With Lisa, there was no passion. I mean, the sex was alright, I guess. But,” he paused and ran the pad of his finger lightly over the skin of Jared’s arm wrapped around him, “it wasn’t like it could be, I just didn’t realize it at the time.”  
  
Jared pulled Jensen to him tighter and instinctively rubbed into his ass with his half hard cock. He stopped the moment he realized what he was doing and Jensen laughed, “I just didn’t realize getting fucked by a guy was the hottest thing there was,” he growled as he pushed back against Jared and Jared let out a pleased sound.  
  
Jared whispered deep and low into Jensen’s ear, “What about being the one to fuck the other guy?”  
  
A breath caught in Jensen’s throat, he swallowed hard before answering, “Would--would you want me to?”  
  
Jared nipped at Jensen’s earlobe sending chills throughout his body, “Hell, I’d let you tie me up and choke me if you really wanted to.”  
  
Jensen turned over slowly so he was facing Jared, “Are...you into that kind of stuff?” Jensen asked apprehensively.  
  
Jared let out a laugh, “No, not necessarily, I’m just saying, if you wanted to, I would totally let you.”  
  
Jensen looked up at Jared through his long lashes, eyes unusually dark green, “I kinda like what we already have going.”  
  
“Me too,” Jared said softly kissing Jensen on the forehead, “The offer is always on the table though.”  
  


  
Jensen didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until he was being gently woken by Jared, “Jensen, we should get downstairs, I think I smell food.”  
  
Jensen groggily opened his eyes, everything was blurry, “Where m’ glasses?”  
  
Jared reached over to the bedside table and brought Jensen’s glasses to him, “I took them off you ‘cause you had fallen asleep.”  
  
“Oh. Sorry, didn’t mean to,” Jensen said sitting up, fixing the glasses on his nose. He felt heavy and slow like he could sleep for another eight hours.  
  
“It’s okay, it was nice to just lay here and watch you,” Jared smiled.  
  
Jensen gave him a sideways glance, “That’s not creepy.”  
  
“It’s not!” Jared argued, shoving playfully at Jensen, “Come on, we should go downstairs.”  
  
As Jared got up from the bed he remembered wanting to ask Jensen about the date tonight, “Hey Jensen?”  
  
“Yeah?” Jensen stood from the bed and stretched, spine popping back into place.  
  
“Tonight, with your sister, are you sure you two wouldn’t just rather go alone? I don’t want to seem like I’m intruding on your time with her.”  
  
Jensen just stared at Jared, “Are you seriously trying to get out of getting ice cream with my sister?”  
  
Jared’s eyes grew huge, “What? No! No, not at all. I just figured you two might want to spend time alone.”  
  
“There is no way in hell she is letting me leave this house tonight without you with us,” Jensen laughed, “Now, come on, let’s go eat.”  
  
The second they made it downstairs Mackenzie was right on their toes, “Ice cream!”  
  
“Yes, Mack, we’re still going for ice cream, just make sure you eat your dinner, okay?” Jensen warned and then shot Jared a wide smile.  
  
Mackenzie jumped up and threw her arms around her brother, buzzing with excitement.  
  
Mackenzie was the first to finish her dinner and be excused from the table then immediately ran upstairs to get ready to leave. When she arrived back downstairs she was dressed in one of her Sunday dresses she only got to wear to church and special occasions. Jensen looked to his mom who just slightly shrugged her shoulders and smiled.  
  
“Wow, look at you babydoll,” Jensen drawled, “Got a hot date tonight?”  
  
Mackenzie gave a twirl to show off her dress, “With your boyfriend.”  
  
The entire room cheered and laughed, “My baby sister, ladies and gentlemen!”  
  
Jensen got up from his seat and scooped Mackenzie up and tickled her as she screamed in excitement. Jensen loved his little sister, loved how full of life and happy she always was. He loved that she was adventurous and had a sense of humor even at just nine years old. Out of everyone in Texas she is who he missed most. He was so happy to be here now with her, to hug her and spend time with her. And one thing that he loved the most was how much she seemed to love Jared and how easily she accepted the relationship he had with him.  
  


  
On the way to the ice cream shop Mackenzie told Jared and Jensen how her school year was going, they learned more than they probably wanted to about what her and her friends thought of some new boyband. But they indulged her nonetheless. Once they got to the ice cream shop she jumped out of the car and held both their hands, smiling up at them with a burning grin. She twirled in her pretty dress as she waited for them to make her ice cream and refused to sit anywhere but her brother’s lap when it came time to eat.  
  
Jared was in awe with how simple things were between the two, so much of an age difference and yet Jensen and Mackenzie seemed to connect on a level most adults can’t even achieve.  
  
“Is it not good?” Mackenzie asked pointing to Jared’s ice cream which he had barely eaten any of because he had been so lost in thought watching Jensen and his sister.  
  
“No, it’s great. I guess I’m just a slow ice cream eater,” he spooned some ice cream into his mouth and winked at Mackenzie which she giggled at.  
  
They enjoyed their evening out with Mackenzie, she asked Jared a lot about his own sister which he was happy to share. She also told him about her horseback riding and the trophies that he saw in her bedroom earlier were from her competitions. Jared loved listening to Mackenzie talk, he saw a lot of Jensen in her, not just in looks but also in the way she carried herself. She was more outgoing and bubbly than Jensen but Jared figured most nine year old girls were. She was very smart though and talked passionately about what she loved, just like Jensen always did with radio.  
  
The three of them finished their ice cream in the little mom and pop ice cream shop before piling into the car to drive home.  
  
“She’s asleep,” Jared whispered motioning towards the backseat at Mackenzie. Jensen looked through the rearview mirror at her and smiled. He reached over, grabbed Jared’s hand and brought it to his lips placing kisses over each knuckle.  
  
“I love you.”  
  
“I love you, too.”  
  
When they arrived home Jensen carried Mackenzie from the car, inside and up to her room where Donna took over to change and put her to bed.  
  
“Thank you boys,” she said giving them both a kiss on their cheeks, “Goodnight.”  
  
Lying in bed later that night Jared thought about their date out with Mackenzie, “Mackenzie is a lot younger than you.”  
  
Jensen stirred, pulling in closer to Jared, “Yeah, fourteen years younger.”  
  
“But you’re so good with her,” Jared didn’t mean to make it sound like it was so surprising but it made Jensen laugh.  
  
“Yeah, well, she’s my sister. I love her,” Jensen paused, “You’re good with your sister.”  
  
“No, I get that,” Jared started, “but you were fourteen when she was born. Most fourteen year old boys couldn’t give a fuck about a baby, ya know?”  
  
Jensen shrugged, “Anything was better than Josh. I was excited to finally have a sibling I could have a good relationship with.”  
  
“Well, you do. She’s really lucky to have you as a big brother,” Jared kissed Jensen’s head and held him tighter as they both fell asleep.  
  


  
The following night was the party at Wilson’s farm. Jensen was really nervous about going because he figured it was just going to be a bunch of kids he went to highschool with that he wasn’t really ever friends with.  
  
He sat on his bed with a heavy sigh, “Jared help me.”  
  
Jared turned from the closet, “Help you with what?”  
  
“I don’t know what to wear.”  
  
Jared couldn’t help but laugh a little, “Jensen, we’re just going to a party...in a barn...who cares what you wear? Just wear what you always wear.”  
  
Jensen looked down at his pressed khakis and button up shirt then back at Jared with pleading eyes. Jared crossed the room and sat down, “What’s going on Jensen? In all the time I’ve known you, which okay hasn’t been all that long, you’ve never cared once about what you were wearing or what people were going to think of you.”  
  
Jensen groaned and stood up, “Look, I know I’m not ‘cool’, I’ve lived my whole life being ignored by most people, most people don’t see me and I’m really okay with that. But....I don’t want to show up there tonight and...”  
  
“And what?”  
  
“And embarrass you,” Jensen said quietly avoiding Jared’s eyes.  
  
“Jensen,” Jared said evenly, “Look at me,” Jensen slowly turned his eyes to look at Jared looking serious still sitting on his bed, “You could never embarrass me. I like everything about you and actually don’t understand why most people don’t see what I see.”  
  
Some of the anxiety in Jensen’s face disappeared and Jensen returned to the bed next to Jared. Jared slung an arm around his shoulders, pulled him close and placed a kiss to his temple.  
  
“I’m pretty sure that was your girliest moment right there,” Jared teased.  
  
“Shut up,” Jensen laughed.  
  
Later that night they pulled up to Wilson’s farm and Jensen turned off the engine but didn’t make any move to get out.  
  
“We don’t have to go, you know? We could just go somewhere else,” Jared said placing a comforting hand on Jensen’s knee.  
  
Jensen looked at him, “I know but we should. It’ll be nice to see a few people and I know how much you love parties.”  
  
Jared smiled wide, “I do love a good party and hey if it does turn out to be really lame, we can hightail it outta there.”  
  
Jensen nodded and they got out, made their way to the opening where music and chatter flowed from. It was dark inside the barn but there were lights strung up creating a nice glow, old couches and plastic chairs had people sitting, talking and laughing. A few people greeted Jensen with a nod which he just returned with a nod himself. There was a table set up for beer pong and a lower table near the couches where people were already doing shots.  
  
Within minutes Ty was at Jensen’s side, “Glad you could make it.”  
  
“I don’t know how long we’ll stay,” Jensen said with a weak smile.  
  
Ty shook his head, “Same old Jensen. Come on, let’s get your boy here some booze,” he said smacking Jared on the shoulder. They followed Ty over to a table against a wall cluttered with half bottles of alcohol and a ice chest of beer.  
  
“Take your pick,” Ty said motioning to the table.  
  
“I’ll just take a beer,” Jared said grabbing two by the necks and handed one to Jensen.  
  
“Jensen Ackles?” a woman asked from behind, Jensen slowly turned and saw Missy Parsons standing there with her hands on her hips, bright bleached blonde hair flowing down past her shoulders and her skin way too tan for spring.  
  
“Hi Missy,” Jensen said.  
  
“And who is this?” Missy said stepping toe to toe with Jared who took a step backward.  
  
“Jared, I’m Jensen’s boyfriend,” Jared smirked.  
  
Missy’s mouth dropped open, eyes wide. “Th-this Jensen?” she pointed to Jensen who just stood there with his hands in his pockets.  
  
“Yes, this Jensen. The most amazing person I know,” he said wrapping his arm around Jensen’s waist and pulled him close, “And the sexiest,” he growled into Jensen’s ear sending a shock straight to Jensen’s cock.  
  
Missy turned and yelled across the room, “Becky you are not going to believe this!” Then she skipped off into the crowd of people.  
  
Jared pressed his lips to Jensen’s cheek, “This is fun,” he teased.  
  
Jensen rolled his eyes.  
  
Shortly after their encounter with Missy, the guys found themselves in a conversation about state basketball teams with some of the guys from Jensen’s senior year. Jared did most of the talking, very enthusiastic about his preferred teams. Jensen watched as Jared laughed and argued over statistics and specific plays. He liked that Jared was fitting in quickly and having a good time. They sat, Jared’s arm resting on the back of the couch fingers grazing Jensen’s shoulder.  
  
Before too long the guys got a game of Quarters going and Jensen excused himself, “I’m going to go get some fresh air, stay and have some fun okay?” he whispered to Jared.  
  
“You okay?” Jared asked concerned.  
  
Jensen nodded with a smile, “I’m fine, just stuffy in here. Stay, have fun,” Then he got up, kissed Jared and walked outside.  
  
The night air was cool to his overheated skin, he took several deep breaths of the fresh air, already feeling better. He decided to walk down the drive for a bit when out of nowhere he was grabbed from behind and felt a cold knife sharp against his neck.  
  
“So my baby brother is a faggot now?” he heard Josh sneer in his ear. Abundant fear froze his entire body, unable to move or scream, Jensen just stood there at his brother’s mercy.  
  
Josh held him there, holding the knife tighter against his taut throat, “Always knew you were a pussy, could never fight back, just a little girl. No, just a fucking faggot,” He spat as he dragged the knife across Jensen’s neck just hard enough to make him bleed a little. Then he threw him to the ground, Jensen scrambled to get up but Josh only kicked him hard knocking all the air out of his lungs.  
  
Jensen laid on the ground wheezing, eyes shut tight waiting for the next blow and soon enough another kick to the ribs was quickly behind. Jensen felt an excruciating pop with the second kick and was sure a rib had snapped. He managed to get up on his hands and knees as Josh circled him spitting out insults, Jensen could barely hear him with the blood rushing in his ears. Josh grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up only to punch him square in the jaw, sending him tumbling backwards. This went on for a few minutes, Josh picking him up just to throw another punch. After the sixth or seventh hit, Jensen lost count but could feel the blood pouring from his mouth.  
  
Josh kicked him a third time hard enough to keep Jensen from being able to stand again. Josh wasn’t finished, held him down with all his weight, wailed on him, threw punches with both fists hitting anything he could, Jensen’s nose, mouth, eyes, throat, head, chest, anywhere Josh could reach he threw a punch until Jensen was so out of it he lay there breathless, unmoving but still conscience.  
  
From the corner of his quickly swelling eye he saw a figure and before he knew it Josh was thrown off him. Jensen managed to roll to his side and watch as the figure turned out to be Jared. Jared threw Josh to the ground, straddling him and shaking him into the ground, pounding his head against the asphalt.  
  
“You ever lay a finger on him again, I swear to God, I will kill you. I will kill you,” Jared roared, dark and dangerous in a way Jensen had never heard him before. Jared spat right in his face.  
  
A crowd formed outside, the cops had been called and were driving up as Jared kept all his weight on Josh holding him down.  
  
“Hands up!” an officer yelled from the hood of his car. Jared slowly raised his hands and stood to his feet. Jensen watched as two officers cuffed Jared and his brother.  
  
“Someone call an ambulance please, he needs an ambulance!” Jared yelled as he was dragged to the cop car, “Get him an ambulance!”  
  
Jensen felt a soothing hand in his hair as he watched the cop cars drive away, it was Ty, “Hey buddy, an ambulance is on the way, just stay tight okay?”  
  
“Parents,” Jensen wheezed, “Call my parents.”  
  
As Jensen was put into the ambulance his parents drove up and ran over frantically.  
  
“Oh my god,” Donna cried.  
  
“Dad, Jared, jail,” Jensen whispered and Alan understood immediately leaving Jensen in the care of the paramedics and his mother.  
  


  
Jared sat in the cold jail cell, back against the wall, eyes closed, thinking about Jensen. He thought about how he found him, motionless and helpless beneath Josh’s body. He was so bloody and swollen and so unlike Jensen that it broke his heart. Rage burned in his belly and if Josh wasn’t safe in the cell next to him he would kill him right then and there.  
  
Jared opened his eyes and looked down at his bloody hands, knuckles bruised from pounding in Josh’s face, it stung but it was nothing compared to what Jensen was probably feeling. He wondered how long he’d have to be in there and when he’d get to see Jensen again.  
  
In that moment he heard voices coming down the hallway and before too long Alan was standing there, face cold and empty, unlike anything he’d ever seen.  
  
“Alright, Padalecki, time for you to go!” the guard yelled as he started to unlock the door.  
  
“What about me pops? Gonna bail me out too? I am your son, you know!” Josh yelled from the cell next to his, banging his fists on the bars.  
  
“Quiet down, Ackles,” the guard yelled, Alan kept his eyes on Jared and put his hand securely on the back of Jared’s neck as they walked down the hall out of the holding area.  
  
“Bail out your faggot son’s boyfriend but not your own flesh and blood, jackass!” Jared heard Josh yell, Alan’s grip tightened but he said nothing.  
  
It was quiet in the car, neither had spoken a word.  
  
“Mr. Ackles,” Jared started but Alan held up his hand, “You saved my son tonight, thank you,” And that was all that could be said in the moment, the two men drove the rest of the way to the hospital in silence.  
  
At the hospital they found Jensen in a bed and Donna sitting in a chair wiping her eyes with a tissue. Jensen’s eyes were closed and he was hooked up to an IV, the bruises on his face looked even worse under the harsh light, his right eye and bottom lip swollen, there were stitches holding his eyebrow closed, stitches on his chin and lip too. The rage in Jared’s belly boiled.  
  
Jensen opened his eyes, “Hey.”  
  
Alan walked over and put a soothing hand on his wife’s shoulder, comforting her as they gazed at their beat up son. Jared slowly walked to the other side of Jensen’s bed and ran a finger slowly down his arm, “I’m so sorry,” he whispered as tears burned behind his eyes.  
  
“Hey, I’m okay, it wasn’t your fault,” Jensen comforted, “If anything you saved me tonight.”  
  
Jared nodded his head slightly, pulled up a chair and sat down threading his fingers with Jensen’s.  
  
“So, what’s the diagnosis?” Alan asked.  
  
“Three broken ribs, bruised pancreas but no internal bleeding and of course everything that you can see,” Donna explained, wiping her eyes again with her tissue.  
  
“‘s okay momma, I’m fine,” Jensen soothed.  
  
“Fine? You are not fine Jensen! Look at you!” Donna said abruptly then hiccupped a sob and shook her head, “I’m so sorry baby.”  
  
“We’re pressing charges and they also found drugs and a knife on him so those charges will be added as well,” Alan said evenly.  
  
“When does Jensen get to go home?” Jared asked.  
  
Donna looked up at Jared and offered him a comforting smile, “Soon. They’re just getting some papers together.”  
  
“Momma, where’s Mackenzie?” Jensen asked suddenly worried about his sister.  
  
“It’s okay baby, we called the Jones’ as we left. They’re at the house now but she’s still asleep.”  
  
“Good.”  
  
They all sat in silence as they waited for Jensen to be discharged. Despite the copious amounts of painkillers they had given Jensen he was still in loads of pain, getting him from the bed to the wheelchair to the car proved very difficult. But before they knew it they were home.  
  
Jensen fought his mother about sleeping on the couch and instead decided he was going to make it up the stairs to his bedroom. He stood at the foot of the stairs, Jared behind him as he very slowly managed to climb one stair by himself, wincing in agonizing pain.  
  
“Jensen, just let me carry you, please,” Jared begged.  
  
“No,” Jensen shook his head defiantly, “I can do this, just give me a minute.”  
  
Jared stood and watched as Jensen tried for another step but instead let out a muffled pained moan.  
  
“Jensen, please. You can either let me carry you up the stairs which will take less than a minute or we can stand here all night as you very painfully try and make it up the stairs by yourself.”  
  
Jensen let out a heavy sigh, “Fine.”  
  
“I swear, you’ll still have your manhood after I carry you up the stairs.”  
  
Jared bent down, scooping Jensen into his arms and carried him up the stairs, into his room. He gently laid Jensen on his bed and then turned to close the door behind them. Jensen untied the hospital gown he’d worn home and shrugged it off then undid his pants but couldn’t get them off because it hurt too much to bend that way. He laid down and just stared up at his ceiling. Jared toed off his shoes, pulled down his own jeans, chucked his shirt then climbed up on the bed at Jensen’s feet. He gingerly pulled at the waistband of Jensen’s pants and slipped them off his hips. Jared bent down, pressed his lips firmly to Jensen’s thigh, then hip, then chest, then neck and finally his cheek before he settled down next to Jensen making sure not to bump him.  
  
Jared closed his eyes and attempted to sleep but after a few minutes he heard Jensen sniff. He opened his eyes to find Jensen silently crying, heavy tears rolling down the sides of his head and into his hair.  
  
“Do you need more painkillers?” Jared asked softly.  
  
Jensen lightly shook his head, “‘m okay. Doesn’t hurt too much right now.”  
  
Jared’s heart sank, he wanted to hold Jensen in his arms and kiss everything bad away but he was afraid he’d hurt Jensen if he touched him.  
  
They were quiet for a moment before Jensen spoke again, “I’m sorry for ruining your spring break, Jared.”  
  
Jared sighed, very gently put his arm across Jensen’s chest, unable to go without physical contact any longer and pressed his face into the crook of Jensen’s neck.  
  
“You didn’t ruin anything, Jensen. Despite tonight, this has been the best spring break I’ve ever had, being here with you and your amazing family, it’s been perfect. And look we’ve still got a few more days, rest up tomorrow and then we’ll do whatever you want.”  
  
“Okay,” was all Jensen could manage to get out before he was silently crying again, “It’s these fucking painkillers,” he huffed.  
  
“‘s okay,” Jared said placing a kiss to Jensen’s shoulder, “Let’s sleep and forget tonight.”  
  


  
The following day Jensen and Jared spent most of it upstairs in Jensen’s room resting. Donna frequently came up bringing snacks and drinks and Mackenzie visited for awhile until Alan made her go play outside. Jensen laid, propped up on pillows, the only comfortable position with his broken ribs, Jared moved around, sitting up by Jensen or at his desk, down on the floor or down by Jensen’s feet. Jared had a hard time sitting still for too long.  
  
“Jared you can go out and do something if you want to. I know how much you hate being cramped up in the same place for too long.”  
  
“You tryin’ to get rid of me?” Jared teased as he crawled back up onto the bed after being sprawled out on Jensen’s floor with a book and pulled Jensen’s feet into his lap.  
  
Jensen smiled, “No, I just know you pretty well and hanging around in a tiny room all day is bound to drive you crazy.”  
  
Jared sat for a minute, rubbing Jensen’s feet in thought, “So, you wouldn’t mind if I went for a run? You know, to get some of this energy out?”  
  
“Please do!” Jensen laughed, “Honestly, I’m kinda tired anyway, I’ll probably just take a nap while you’re gone.”  
  
Jared jumped from the bed and started pulling out running clothes to change into. “I won’t be gone long,” he said, pulling off his jeans and jumping into his shorts. He sat on the edge of the bed and tied up his shoes.  
  
“If you go out the back door and head the other way then where we went yesterday, there’s a nice running path that will take you in a big loop and you’ll end up back where you started....so you don’t get lost,” Jensen offered.  
  
“Thanks,” Jared smiled, got up, kissed Jensen, fluffed a pillow and stuffed it behind him which Jensen rolled his eyes at, made sure Jensen had the remote and his ipod nearby and headed downstairs for a run.  
  
Just as Jensen was about to fall asleep his phone buzzed on the bedside table.  
  
“Hey Jason,” Jensen greeted.  
  
“Hey man! How’s the fam?” Jason asked.  
  
Jensen went on to tell him how everyone was doing and about what he and Jared had been up to. Jason was shocked and pissed off to hear about Josh and Jensen’s current state of health.  
  
“So, I wasn’t sure if I should call and tell you or not but,” Jason took a breath before continuing and Jensen suddenly got anxious, “you got a letter from Austin Metro.”  
  
Jensen’s stomach dropped, his heart thrummed in his chest, “What do you think it is? Good or bad news?”  
  
Jason sighed, “I don’t know man, do you want me to open it?”  
  
Jensen thought for a moment, he’d been applying to different radio internships across the country but his dream was Austin Metro. He’d been planning for this his entire senior year and now he was finally going to find out if his hard work had paid off.  
  
“Open it.”  
  
“Are you sure?” Jason asked.  
  
“I won’t be in any worse shape than I am right now so if it’s bad news, I won’t feel much worse than I already do but if it’s good news...”  
  
“It’ll make you feel better,” Jason finished.  
  
“Exactly,” Jensen said trying to push down the excitement that was building in his chest.  
  
Jensen listened as Jason slid his finger under the lip of the envelope, Jensen heard rustling of papers and then Jason took in a breath.  
  
“Seriously dude, what the fuck does it say?” Jensen asked impatiently.  
  
Jason laughed, “You got it, man. You’re going to Austin!”  
  
Jensen didn’t have any words, he almost didn’t even believe what Jason had said but he felt a smile dance across his lips and he couldn’t wait to share the good news with Jared.  
  
Jared...  
  
Shit. He hadn’t even talked to Jared about the possibility of moving to Austin after graduation, hadn’t really talked to Jared about anything involving what he was thinking of doing after graduation. Everything with Jared had happened so fast and it was so wonderful that the applications he’d sent out first semester hadn’t really been at the front of his mind until now.  
  
“Hey man, thanks for calling and letting me know. I’ll see you when we get back,” Jensen said into the receiver.  
  
“No problem! And hey, congrats brother!” Jason exclaimed before hanging up.  
  
Jensen slumped back against his pillows, he had to figure out how he was going to tell Jared he was moving back to Texas in just over two months.  
  
Before too long Jensen was dozing off just as Jared burst through the door dripping in sweat. His hair clung to his forehead in sweaty wisps and his shirt was soaked in a deep vee down the front of him but he was all smiles. He pulled out his earbuds and gave Jensen a crazy grin.  
  
“I am so tempted to go over there and rub my sweaty face all over you.”  
  
Jensen twisted his face in disgust, “I’d rather you didn’t.”  
  
Jared obnoxiously tiptoed over to the bed and brought his hands up like he was about to attack.  
  
“Please don’t,” Jensen laughed. Jared dropped his hands and pouted.  
  
“Aw, you should go shower then bring your pouty lips over here,” Jensen suggested, Jared wagged his eyebrows and headed for the shower.  
  
“I’m gonna leave the door open to entice you!” Jared yelled from inside the bathroom. Jensen rolled his eyes.  
  
Soon the room was full of steam and Jared was doing his very best to sing “I Will Survive” as obnoxiously as he could all for Jensen’s amusement of course. When he was finished he draped a towel around his waist, shook out his hair like a puppy, and made his way over to Jensen’s bed. Jensen sat reading, keeping his eyes on his book intently, completely aware of Jared’s attempts for attention.  
  
“Seriously, I’m standing here dripping wet in nothing but a towel and you are reading a book?”  
  
Jensen smirked, keeping his eyes on his book.  
  
Jared had an idea.  
  
He grabbed Jensen’s desk chair, pulled it towards the middle of the room and sat down, legs sprawled out in front of him, towel barely hanging on. Jared stretched his arms up and groaned, putting himself on display.  
  
Still, Jensen kept his eyes on his book.  
  
Jared continued to stretch, rolled his head back and forth, ran a hand down his chest to rest on his belly, twirling his finger in the hair that trailed from his belly button, then casually let the towel fall.  
  
Jensen’s eyes never faltered but he shifted a little on his bed.  
  
Jared took it as a good sign and moved his hand down to his dick. He ran his fingers along the velvety skin before palming the whole thing. He quietly moaned at the touch of his own hand, all for the attention of Jensen but Jensen continued reading his book.  
  
After a few moments Jared was hard, lying heavy against his belly, he wrapped his fingers along the base and stroked up. He let his head fall back as he closed his eyes to the sensation.  
  
Jensen peeked over the rim of his glasses and the full on sight of Jared naked, with cock in hand, working himself over, sent Jensen’s heart racing and dick twitching in his pants.  
  
“Oh for fuck’s sake, lock the door and get your ass over here!” Jensen demanded.  
  
Jared’s head shot up, smile wide on his face, he got up, locked the door then crawled up on top of Jensen, covering Jensen’s mouth with his own.  
  
“You know,” Jensen started low and gravelly, “I’m supposed to take it easy today.”  
  
Jared grinned and pressed his forehead to Jensen’s, “Well, if you’re supposed to take it easy, I guess I’ll just have to give it to you easy.”  
  
“Mmmm,” Jensen moaned in response.  
  
“So easy, in fact,” Jared purred, “that you won’t even have to move,” And before Jensen could do anything, Jared was down between his legs, pulling down his waistband and dragging his tongue along Jensen’s dick.  
  
“Oh fuck,” Jensen hissed, throwing his head back against the pillow.  
  
As Jared worked his mouth around Jensen’s, now flushed red cock, he worked himself with his free hand and before too long they were both coming.  
  
Jared crawled up to Jensen and flopped down on his back, satisfied.  
  
Jared was happy, he loved how fun everything was with Jensen, how easy it was. He loved how close he felt to Jensen, how he knew he could say anything to him and he’d understand. He loved that not only did they become fast lovers but also fast best friends who would do anything to please the other.  
  
Jared couldn’t help but smile as he laid in bed next to Jensen. He turned his head to look at Jensen who was already looking at him, slight smile on his face but Jared could tell he was lost in his own thoughts.  
  
“What?” Jared asked.  
  
Jensen shook his head, clearing his thoughts away, “Nothing.”  
  
“No, tell me, I know you’re thinking about something.”  
  
Jensen smiled, “It’s nothing, I was just thinking about how much I love having you around all the time.”  
  
Jared let out a satisfying sigh, “Yeah, afternoon blowjobs do seem like a great perk to having me around.”  
  
“Exactly!” Jensen laughed. Jared kept his eyes on Jensen even after Jensen turned away, he knew there was something else on his mind but he decided not to push it any further.  
  
After a few moments Jensen turned to him again, “Wanna help me downstairs?”  
  
“Really? You feel up to it?” Jared asked.  
  
“Yeah, I’d like to spend some time with my family and I can’t really do that if I’m stuck up here all day. Also, the couches in the living room are really comfortable, we should go watch a movie,” Jensen said with a smile.  
  


  
Jared helped Jensen downstairs to the living room where they sprawled out on the wide couches and watched a  movie. Mackenzie came and joined them after a while telling them all about riding horses that morning. When it came time to eat dinner, Donna made an exception, set up tv dinner trays for everyone and they all ate on the couches keeping Jensen company.  
  
The news of Austin Metro was burning inside Jensen, he wanted to share the good news with his family but couldn’t until he’d talked to Jared about everything. So, he kept quiet and enjoyed the time he was spending with the people he loved most.  
  
When dinner was over everyone stayed down in the living room talking about their days and eventually the conversation slipped into telling stories of Jensen’s childhood.  
  
“Ugh, mom do we have to?” Jensen groaned as Donna sat herself beside Jared and opened a picture album she’d brought from the closet.  
  
Donna ignored her son and smiled up at Jared who returned an even brighter smile as they opened the book to reveal hundreds of pictures of Jensen and his family. They sat looking through the whole book as Donna pointed out specific pictures that went along with certain stories.  
  
“I cannot believe you are showing him baby pictures!” Jensen complained.  
  
“I am your mother, I have to,” Donna explained as Jensen rolled his eyes, “Oh! This one! This is when we first brought him home from the hospital.”  
  
Jared turned to look at Jensen, dimples cutting into his cheeks as he smiled fondly at his boyfriend.  
  
“You are enjoying this way too much,” Jensen sneered.  
  
“Yes, I am,” Jared said sweetly, leaning in to press a kiss to Jensen’s forehead.  
  
The evening continued with Donna oversharing stories of Jensen as a baby to Jared while Jensen and his father spoke about one of his new clients. Mackenzie sat quietly, curled up at her brother’s side playing on her iPod. It was a pleasant evening being surrounded by his family and Jared, if it wasn’t for the deep ache of broken ribs, this moment would be perfect.  
  
“You’ve been such a good sport, dear. Listening to me going on and on about my darling son,” Donna spoke to Jared while giving Jensen an overly sweet smile.  
  
“No, I’ve genuinely enjoyed it,” Jared said, “It’s cool to see and hear what Jensen was like as a kid.”  
  
“Well good, I’m glad. I’m off to bed, you too Mackenzie.”  
  
“But I’m not tired momma!” Mackenzie whined before letting out a yawn.  
  
Donna shook her head, “That’s not what it looks like.”  
  
Jensen pulled Mackenzie closer, “Let her stay momma, just for a little longer?”  
  
A smile swept across Donna’s face as she looked down at her two children and couldn’t say no, “Okay, a little while longer.”  
  
After a bit Alan headed off to bed as well, leaving Jared, Jensen and Mackenzie to watch a movie of Mackenzie’s choosing. The three of them sprawled out on the couch, Jensen resting against Jared’s shoulder with Mackenzie tucked under his arm.  
  
Halfway through the movie Mackenzie turned to Jensen, “How’d you get hurt?”  
  
“What?” Jensen asked startled by the question.  
  
“Your ribs and your face, who hurt you? Momma told me not to ask but she wouldn’t tell me anything,” Mackenzie asked sitting up and facing her big brother.  
  
Jensen turned to Jared who shrugged, not knowing what to say.  
  
Jensen ran a hand down his face and let out a breath, “No one Mack, don’t worry about it.”  
  
That answer was not going to fly with her, “I’m not a baby, Jensen. Tell me what happened.”  
  
“I know you’re not a baby but you are only nine. How I got hurt doesn’t matter, what matters is that I’m fine now,” Jensen tried to reason.  
  
Mackenzie stared at her brother hard, “I’ll poke you in the ribs if you don’t tell me.”  
  
Jared let out a loud laugh at Mackenzie’s unexpected threat and Mackenzie smiled a little.  
  
“Fine,” Jensen groaned knowing that Mackenzie was not going to give up until she had some answers, “Do you remember our big brother Josh?”  
  
“Yes,” Mackenzie answered blankly.  
  
“It was him but he’s in jail now and won’t get out so you don’t have anything to worry about, okay?” Jensen offered.  
  
Keeping her face hard, Mackenzie squinted her eyes, really studying her brother’s face, “Why’d he do it?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Jensen said shrugging before leaning back into Jared more.  
  
“He has to have a reason!” Mackenzie protested.  
  
“I don’t know what to tell you, Mack!”  
  
“Well, what did he say to you? Why didn’t you fight back!” Mackenzie said, raising her voice as she continued to get upset.  
  
Jensen put his hands on Mackenzie’s shoulders, trying to soothe her, “I don’t want to talk about this.”  
  
“Why not? I’m your sister!” Mackenzie cried.  
  
“Yes, exactly. You’re my baby--my little sister. I want to protect you from stuff like this,” Jensen tried to explain.  
  
Mackenzie turned away from her big brother, crossed her arms and pouted.  
  
“I’m sorry, Mack,” Jensen said, reaching out to rub her back, she didn’t move away so Jensen took that as a good sign, “Come on, let’s finish the movie.”  
  
Mackenzie gave in, crawled back over to Jensen and started to lay her head down, “I don’t want to hurt you,” she whispered.  
  
Jensen smiled, “You won’t. Now, come here,” he pulled Mackenzie to him and she lay her head on his chest, wrapping her tiny arms around his waist, hugging him tightly.  
  
“I hate him,” she said quietly into his chest.  
  
Jensen sighed, “I know,” And fury burned deep inside him as he thought about how someone Mackenzie hardly even knew caused such strife in her precious life.  
  


  
For the rest of their time in Texas they spent it hanging out with Jensen’s family, cheering Mackenzie on in one of her riding competitions and eating lots of home-cooked meals. Jared was feeling very blessed to be experiencing Jensen’s home life with him and wasn’t looking forward to going back to Washington, their separate beds, their jobs, and class, and while Jared loved school and loved work, he loved Jensen more. Waking up to him and falling asleep with him every night had been amazing and Jared knew he was going to miss it greatly.  
  
Back in Washington Jason waited for them at the airport to give them rides home. When Jared was loading their luggage into the back of Jason’s truck, Jason leaned over to Jensen, “So? Did you tell him?”  
  
Jensen looked into the side mirror to make sure Jared was oblivious to the conversation, “No, I haven’t so please do not say anything, okay?”  
  
“Lips are sealed. But you have to tell him eventually...sooner than later,” Jason said, starting the engine.  
  
“I will. Soon,” Jensen said as he sank down into his seat.  
  
Jared swung open the back door and piled in, “Thanks for picking us up, Jason.”  
  
“Hey, no problem, I’m happy you guys are back. I think Chad really misses you,” Jason laughed.  
  
“Aw Chad,” Jared said thinking about his annoyingly obnoxious but good-hearted friend, “I guess I miss him, don’t really miss work at all though.”  
  
Jason shot Jensen a look which Jensen returned with a slight nod of his head.  
  
“What’s going on?” Jared asked suspicious.  
  
“What do you mean?” Jensen asked playing dumb. Jared knew something was up with him and Jason but let it slide.  
  
“Never mind,” Jared said giving Jensen a suspicious look who just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.  
  
That week they spent getting back into the swing of things, Jared worked a few nights and classes had started up again. He missed Jensen even though they saw each other throughout the week, it just wasn’t like it was in Texas. Along with missing Jensen, Jared also started finding it harder and harder to go to work. Before, work was always fun and exciting, the money was always a big perk and he always found time flying by. But for some reason he started hating it, he started working more at the bar instead on the floor and couldn’t figure out why he no longer liked what he was doing.  
  
“I’m thinking about giving my two weeks,” Jared confessed to Chad who immediately started choking on the water he’d been drinking.  
  
“What? Why? Where are you going to go?” Chad asked completely surprised at the confession.  
  
Jared leaned back in the chair in the breakroom of the club, “I don’t know. I just, I just used to enjoy it more? I used to have fun at work but now it just drags on and I’m starting to hate it.”  
  
“Can’t do a job like this if you really hate it,” Chad agreed.  
  
“Yeah, I’ve been doing this kind of stuff since I was fifteen.”  
  
Chad’s eyes grew wide, “Fifteen? What the fuck?”  
  
Jared chuckled, “Yeah, it’s a long story. But, I guess now, I’m just over it.”  
  
“What does Jensen think?” Chad asked, lighting a cigarette.  
  
Jared waved the smoke from his face, “Dude, you are going to get hit with a fine again,” Chad shrugged his shoulders and continued smoking, “I haven’t said anything to Jensen yet. He won’t care though, working here’s never bothered him. So, me not working here shouldn’t bother him either.”  
  
Jared thought for a moment before speaking again, “Something’s been going on with him lately and I can’t figure it out.”  
  
Chad leaned in, “Jared, I told you from the beginning he’s an asshole, don’t be surprised if this whole fairytale thing you have going on in your head doesn’t pan out.”  
  
Jared rolled his eyes, “I love you but you know nothing, Chad.”  
  
“Aw, you love me?” Chad asked sweetly.  
  
They both laughed, “You’re ridiculous,” Jared stood, downed the rest of his water and turned to Chad, “I have to get back out there. See ya later.”  
  
That night after work Jared called Jensen, “I miss you.”  
  
Jensen chuckled on the end of the line, “You just saw me yesterday.”  
  
“Yeah but that was so long ago and it was only for like two hours,” Jared pouted.  
  
“Want me to come over? I’m just writing a paper that can be put off until tomorrow,” Jensen suggested.  
  
Jared perked up, “Okay! I’ll see you when you get here.”  
  


  
Jensen hung up, closed his laptop he’d been working on and headed out to Jared’s. The night was unusually cool for this time of year, Jensen regretted walking to Jared’s without a heavier coat but before he knew it he was at Jared’s front door. The door swung open before Jensen had a chance to knock and one of Jared’s roommates stumbled out.  
  
“Oh, hiya Jens!” Trey exclaimed.  
  
“Hey Trey...need some help?” Jensen asked extending his hand to help the fallen roommate from the ground, alcohol heavy on his breath. Jensen helped the drunken man up and tried to walk him back into the house.  
  
“No, no no, I gotta go the other way,” Trey protested.  
  
“No, I think it’s best if you stay here for now,” Jensen said when suddenly Jared appeared at the door.  
  
“Dammit, Trey, what the hell?” Jared exclaimed, meeting the two men down on the driveway, throwing an arm around Trey to help Jensen get him into the house.  
  
“I’m fine!” Trey sloshed.  
  
“You’re not fine, you need help, asshole,” Jared grumbled.  
  
After they had gotten Jared’s roommate into the house and into bed, Jared shook his head and led the way to his own bedroom.  
  
It was dark in his room, only his desk lamp illuminated, clothes strewn about like the usually were after Jared had gotten home from work.  
  
Jensen turned to Jared, “What was that about?”  
  
Jared shrugged, walked to his bed and collapsed, he opened his arms, an invitation for Jensen. Jensen crossed the room, shucked his jacket off and climbed up.  
  
“What’s going on?” Jared asked after being quiet a moment.  
  
Confused, Jensen asked, “What do you mean?”  
  
“Something’s been different since we got home from seeing your family over spring break. I thought maybe it was just the adjustment of getting back to reality but I don’t know, it feels like there’s something going on,” Jared let out all in one breath.  
  
Jensen sat up and looked down at Jared with concern, “I’m sorry, Jared.”  
  
“For what?” Jared asked sitting up concerned.  
  
Jensen looked deep into the multi-colored eyes of his best friend, his lover, the man who had made Jensen’s life so much better after only being in it for such a short time. He didn’t know what to say but knew he needed to tell Jared about Austin.  
  
“I graduate in May.”  
  
“Yeah,” Jared stated, confused.  
  
“Last semester, before I knew you, I applied to radio internships all around the country and I got accepted to my top choice.”  
  
Jared’s face broke out into a smile, “That’s awesome, Jensen. Why are you sorry about that?”  
  
Jensen took a deep breath, “It’s in Austin. I leave for Austin this summer but I’m conflicted, Jay.”  
  
“Austin is a beautiful place to live. Why are you conflicted?” Jared asked.  
  
“I don’t want to leave you. Even you said it, we’ve only been apart less than twenty-four hours and it sucks. I don’t like being away from you. I love having you in my life, I can’t imagine not getting to see you throughout the week, ya know? Hell, I’d rather see you every single day if I could. But at the same time this is a chance of a lifetime for me, something I’ve worked hard for and....”  
  
Jared put his arm around Jensen and pulled him close, “You have to take it, Jensen.”  
  
“But what about you?” Jensen asked looking up at Jared.  
  
Jared thought for a moment, “I’ll come with you.”  
  
“What?” Jensen asked, eyes wide.  
  
A smile played at Jared’s lips, “I’m serious. I have nothing holding me down here, nothing really going for me here, I hate my job, my roommates are assholes, I think I need a fresh start, maybe Austin will be just what I need.”  
  
Jensen stared at Jared in disbelief, “I can’t believe this.”  
  
“What?”  
  
“It’s just, so easy. I was expecting...I don’t know, I was just expecting this to be hard,” Jensen said shrugging.  
  
“When did you find out?” Jared asked quietly.  
  
Jensen sighed, “When we were in Texas.”  
  
Jared shook his head, “Why did you wait so long to tell me?”  
  
“I don’t know. I was scared, I guess,” Jensen shrugged.  
  
“You had me worried,” Jared chuckled.  
  
“Why?”  
  
Jared laid back down on his bed pulling Jensen with him, “I could just tell something was up but you weren’t telling me.”  
  
“Sorry,” Jensen apologized, placing a kiss to Jared’s neck.  
  
“Mmmm, I know how you can make it up to me,” Jared said low and dark sending chills over Jensen’s body. Jensen sat up and straddled Jared’s hips, eyebrow quirked. Jared ran his hands down Jensen’s body to rest on Jensen’s thighs, “There’s no way, I could go for too long without this at my fingertips.”  
  
“You just love me for my body,” Jensen teased.  
  
Jared acted insulted, putting his hands to his chest and gasping, “I could never.”  
  
Both men laughed, Jensen ran his thumb down Jared’s cheek and Jared nuzzled into his touch.  
  
“Do you really hate your job?” Jensen asked.  
  
Jared let out a heavy sigh, “Starting to, yeah. I really just need something new. It’s like I told Chad, I’ve been doing this sort of thing since I was fifteen and now I’m just done.”  
  
“Hopefully not completely done,” Jensen said with a roll to his hips.  
  
Jared wagged his eyebrows and ran his hands up Jensen’s thighs, “Done with everyone but you.”  
  
In one swift move he had Jensen pinned on his back with Jared on top of him, covering him in desperate kisses. He licked into Jensen’s mouth, tasting and tangling tongues.  
  
“The only body I want to feel against mine,” Jared breathed into Jensen’s mouth as he pressed his body to Jensen’s, long lean muscle barely contained by the denim of his jeans and cotton of his tshirt, “The only body I ever want to see,” He kissed down Jensen’s neck then sat up, he unbuttoned Jensen’s shirt, “It’s like unwrapping a present every single time. A present only for me,” Jared growled as he ripped Jensen’s shirt open wide. He bent low pressed kisses to Jensen’s soft chest and rolled his nipples between his fingers.  
  
Jensen arched up into the touch and ran his hands over Jared’s muscled thighs, “Take these off.”  
  
Jared stood, unbuckled his jeans and shrugged them off before kneeling at Jensen’s feet where he quickly undid the button on Jensen’s pants and pulled them off. Jensen laid sprawled out across Jared’s bed and it sent fireworks off in his belly. He needed Jensen, needed to feel every inch of Jensen’s body against his own, needed to be inside, surrounded by the indescribable heat and pressure of Jensen around his throbbing cock.  
  
After opening Jensen with his tongue and fingers he pressed in hard. They laid molded together, chest to back as Jared worked his hips in an erratic fashion, bringing them both to orgasm.  
  


  
In the morning Jensen pried himself from Jared, looked around the room for some clothes to pull on, he settled for a pair of Jared’s old sweats that he had to roll twice at the waistband and Jared’s sweatshirt from his desk chair. He quietly opened the bedroom door and made his way to the kitchen. The house was quiet, Jared’s roommates all seemed to be asleep still so Jensen took extra caution in not making too much noise. He started some coffee as Sadie turned the corner, thumping her tail against the wall.  
  
“Shhh,” Jensen whispered, bending down to pet and scratch the dog behind her ears. Sadie stayed underfoot while Jensen opened the fridge to find it almost as bare as his at home and settled on eggs. He cracked several eggs into a bowl and whisked them before pouring them into a sizzling pan. While the eggs cooked he scrounged the pantry for pancake mix but all he found were poptarts. After scrambling the eggs he opened the cupboard to find one clean plate, he laughed, pulled it from the shelf and piled the poptarts on it along with the freshly cooked eggs. He poured two mugs of coffee and made sure to put extra sugar in one of them, the way Jared liked. On his way back to Jared’s room, juggling the mugs of coffee, plate and forks, with Sadie underfoot, he ran into Jared’s other roommate Kevin.  
  
Kevin looked confused, “Who are you?”  
  
“Jensen, we’ve met before,” Jensen said a little annoyed. It’s not that he didn’t like Kevin, it’s just he was trying hard to not to drop anything and he’d talked with Kevin at least three times prior to this morning.  
  
“Whatever,” Kevin shrugged and headed away but not before stealing a poptart from the top. Jensen rolled his eyes and made his way to Jared’s room, Sadie followed and laid herself down on the floor by the bed. Jared lay sleeping still stretched out across his bed, arms strewn across where Jensen had been laying. Jensen put the mugs of coffee on the bedside table and sat pressed up against Jared’s legs with the plate of food. He held out a forkful of eggs to Jared’s nose, enticing him with the scents of freshly made eggs before bringing the fork to his own mouth.  
  
Jared stirred, blinked his eyes awake and smiled lazily up at Jensen.  
  
“Did I wake you?” Jensen asked with a smile.  
  
Jared moved completely around under the sheets so he could wrap his arms around Jensen’s waist and laid his head on Jensen’s thigh.  
  
Jared opened his mouth wide, “You want me to feed you?” Jensen laughed. Jared’s face melted into a smile as he nodded his head. Jensen carefully scooped some eggs onto the fork and put them in Jared’s mouth who happily chewed away.  
  
“You are such a dork,” Jensen teased as a put a forkful of eggs into his own mouth.  
  
They sat like that for a few minutes, Jensen alternating forkfulls of eggs and bites of poptarts between himself and Jared. When the eggs were about gone Jared sat up, grabbed his mug of coffee and sipped at it.  
  
“Thanks,” Jared said softly, leaning in to kiss Jensen.  
  
“Don’t get used to it,” Jensen laughed.  
  
Jared leaned back against his headboard, pillows stacked behind him, “I really like this, though. Waking up to you in my bed, eating breakfast together.”  
  
“So, we really going to do this then? Move to Austin together?” Jensen asked, eyes crinkling at the sides from the smile across his face.  
  
Jared took the plate from Jensen’s hands and put it on the bedside table with his mug of coffee then moved closer, he kissed Jensen’s neck and ran his hands down Jensen’s sides. He trailed his mouth up Jensen’s jaw to his lips and kissed him deeply.  
  
“That was a yes, by the way,” Jared said as he pulled back and picked up his coffee mug again.  
  
Jensen sat with a smile on his face, in a daze with how well everything was falling into place. As he thought about moving to Austin with Jared he remembered that he still hadn’t told his parents. He got up from the bed, Sadie lifting her head to see what he was doing, and looked for his pants from the previous night.  
  
Jared watched as Jared moved about the room looking for his phone, “You look cute.”  
  
Jensen turned and arched an eyebrow.  
  
“What? I like you in my clothes,” Jared shrugged as he took another sip of his coffee, “You know, when we’re living together, you can wear my clothes anytime you want.”  
  
Jensen smiled shyly, heat collecting in his cheeks, grabbed his pants and fished out his phone before returning to the bed.  
  
“You calling your folks?” Jared asked.  
  
“Yeah, I haven’t told them yet about the internship.”  
  
Jensen held the phone to his ear as he waited for his parents to answer, “Hey dad, is mom around? I have something to tell you.”  
  
As he waited for his mom to get on the phone he put his on speaker so Jared could listen too.  
  
“Hi baby, everything okay?” Donna asked the second she got to the phone.  
  
“Yeah mom, everything is great. I just wanted to let you know that I got the internship at Austin Metro.”  
  
There was a beat before Donna broke out into congratulations so loud Jensen held the phone further away from them. Jared smiled so wide, his dimples took over his face and Jensen had to fight the urge to lean over and kiss each of them.  
  
“There’s more, mom,” Jensen said after a few minutes of Donna going on and on about how hard Jensen had worked and how much he deserved the internship.  
  
“Okay, I’m sorry, I’m just so excited for you,” Donna said warmly.  
  
Jensen looked at Jared and smiled, “Jared’s moving to Austin with me.”  
  
The silence that followed was a little unnerving, Jensen moved his eyes from Jared to the phone in anticipation before Donna spoke again, “That sounds lovely dear!”  
  
“Jared’s a good kid,” Alan said, “Austin will be a great place for both of you.”  
  
“I think so too,” Jensen said, never taking his eyes off Jared.  
  
“Now, let’s see,” Donna started, “I can get Gina on the phone when we hang up and tell her to start looking for places near the school.”  
  
“No, mom, it’s fine you don’t have to do that,” Jensen insisted.  
  
Donna laughed, “Think of it as your graduation present, I’ll make sure to send you links to the places she thinks will work and you can pick. Just make sure it’s something you’ll be able to afford after you get settled. We’ll worry about any down payment and the first couple month’s rent.”  
  
Jensen was astonished, he was not expecting that type of graduation present and it was a load off his shoulders, “Wow, thanks you guys. I really appreciate it, really. That’s amazing,” Jensen thought for a moment, “Oh! And just so you’re aware, it’ll have to be a place with a yard.”  
  
Jensen turned to look at Sadie then back to Jared, “We have a dog,” Jared’s smile grew even wider.  
  
“Oh how wonderful, dear. I’ll make sure to tell Gina to be looking at houses then with a nice yard.”  
  
After many thanks from both Jared and Jensen, talking some more about the internship and Jensen’s upcoming graduation, they said goodbye to Jensen’s parents and hung up the phone.  
  
Jared took the phone from Jensen’s hand, placed it on the bedside table next to their empty coffee mugs and then pounced on Jensen. They fucked the rest of the morning, celebrating Jensen’s internship and the start of a new life for both of them.  
  
The next couple of weeks leading up to Jensen’s graduation were packed full of finals, training Jensen’s replacement at the school’s radio and looking at several links his mom had sent him.  
  
“This one is nice,” Jensen said as he pushed the laptop across the table to show Jared the newest link his mom had sent. Each day they had been looking at whatever links Donna had emailed, they had yet to find something they both liked. And now they were hanging out in their school’s coffee shop before Jared headed off to work and Jensen went home to finalize his final paper.  
  
Jared clicked through the different pictures of the realtor website looking at each of the pictures, “To be honest, I don’t know what I’m supposed to be looking for.”  
  
“But do you like it?” Jensen asked.  
  
Jared shrugged, “Yeah? It’s great Jensen. They’ve all been great.”  
  
“But?” Jensen asked a bit deflated.  
  
Jared smiled, “But a house is just a house until we make it a home.”  
  
Jensen couldn’t contain the laughter from pouring out of his mouth, he laughed so hard tears formed in his eyes, Jared sat with a dimpled smile on his face, he loved being able to make Jensen laugh so easily.  
  
“That’s cute, Jay. You make that up on your own?” Jensen asked teasingly.  
  
“Saw it on a Hallmark card,” Jared laughed.  
  
Jensen shook his head and took the laptop back, “We have to pick something. Soon.”  
  
“I know, I know. But, I think we’ll know it when we see it. And so far...we haven’t seen it,” Jared emphasized.  
  
Jensen let out a heavy sigh and closed his laptop, “If you say so.”  
  
“Jensen,” Jared started, taking Jensen’s hand, “I know you want to find a place and have it off your mind but I think it’ll be better in the long run if we take our time with this.”  
  
Nodding in agreement Jensen got up from the table, “You’re going to be late for work if you don’t leave now and I have a paper waiting for me.”  
  
The two men walked out of the coffee shop and headed off campus, “Good luck on your paper.”  
  
“Have fun at work,” Jensen said kissing Jared goodbye and the two men went their separate ways.  
  
It wasn’t until two days before Jensen’s graduation that they found just what they were looking for.  
  
“That’s it,” Jared said with a giant smile across his face.  
  
“You mean it?” Jensen asked, turning his face from the computer screen to Jared, an apprehensive look on his face. It was a modest two bedroom place with a big backyard and decent sized kitchen, Jensen didn’t really see why this place was any different than the dozen others they looked at but he did like it and he liked that Jared seemed to like it.  
  
“Yes, I’m serious. It’s perfect,” Jared said. He sat down next to Jensen on the bed in Jensen’s apartment and slung his arm around Jensen’s shoulders, “Told ya, we’d know when we saw it.”  
  
Jensen smirked, he didn’t know why this one was ‘the one’ but he was so relieved to have finally found it.  
  
“Well good, I’ll call my mom and let her know,” Jensen let out a heavy, relieving sigh. Getting their living arrangements squared away was a weight off his shoulders and he could now focus on his graduation in a few days. After graduation, school would be officially over and he could put all of his time and energy into packing and moving across the country to Austin with Jared. Nerves had been building for weeks deep inside him ready to erupt at a moments notice. He was excited more than anything, he was excited to graduate, to move on to something bigger and better and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t most excited about living with Jared. He knew it would be hard at times, they’d probably find some way to get on each other’s nerves, find out annoying little habits about each other but at the moment, he was even excited about those too. Images of cooking dinner together and laying around on a Saturday with nothing but each other to do caused a buzz of excitement within him.  
  
Jensen turned to Jared, who had laid back on the pillows and was flipping through a magazine, and just watched him with a smile on his face.  
  
“What?” Jared asked bringing his eyes to Jensen’s.  
  
“Nothing. I’m just really happy and it’s ‘cause of you.”  
  
Jared smiled, opened his arms, an invitation that Jensen readily took. He relaxed for a bit, in the comfort of his lover’s arms before calling his mom to tell her they finally found their place.  
  
Graduation came and went, before they knew it they were packing up all of their belongings and getting ready to drive across the country towards a new life. All the guys came over to help, Chris and Chad brought the pizza, Jason brought the beer and they all sat down on the floor in Jensen’s cramped apartment, surrounded by boxes and ate their last meal in Washington together.  
  
“So, Jared, since you’re leaving me and the club to go play house with your boy,” Chad started as Jared rolled his eyes, “what are you actually going to do down in Austin?”  
  
“I’ve got a construction job ready for me once we get there. I’ll get to be working with my hands...er at least in a different way.”  
  
Laughter filled the room as everyone ate and enjoyed the night, Jensen was happy to have one last night with his friends but he was also unbearably excited to get moving the next day. He and Jared had about 40 hours of driving ahead of them, driving across several states to get from Washington to Texas but he was ready.  
  
“What a crazy six months,” Jason reminisced, breaking Jensen from his thoughts.  
  
Chris laughed,”Yeah, who’da thought Jensen here woulda found someone who could fuck the unhappiness right outta him! Never seen this fucker smile so much in all the years I’ve known him.”  
  
Everyone broke out in laughter and Jensen sat there, arms crossed with a smile on his face, “You are such an asshole.”  
  
“Aw, but it’s true,” Chad teased, Jensen balled his napkin in his hand and tossed it at Chad’s face hitting him right on the nose. Faking upset Chad lunged across the pizza and pinned Jensen to the floor.  
  
Jensen laughed, “Aw, Chad are you going to miss me?”  
  
“No, he’s going to miss me,” Jared said piling himself onto Chad’s back, crushing Jensen beneath the weight of both men. Soon both Jason and Chris joined and everyone pushed and pulled, all laughing while Jensen squirmed against the floor trying to get free.  
  
“Oh god, get your armpit out of my face!” Jensen yelled, turning his head into the rug trying to get away from Chad’s ripe armpit.  
  
Chad laughed even harder, eventually Jensen wiggled free from his friend’s grasps and stood watching as his best friends and boyfriend wrestled each other on the floor. Jensen fixed the glasses on his nose that had gone askew in the struggle and thought about how he was going to miss the assholes he called friends.  
  
Jared smiled up at Jensen as he held Chad in a headlock and Jensen couldn’t help but laugh.  
  
Later that evening, after the wrestling had ended, everyone was laying around soaking up the last few moments together, Jason spoke, “Are we ever going to see you two again?”  
  
“Wow, Jason, way to be dramatic,” Jensen laughed, “Of course you will, Jared’s mom and sister still live here.”  
  
“Oh so we’re only good enough to visit because Jared’s got family here?” Chad asked.  
  
Jensen and Jared looked at each other then back at the guys, “Yes.”  
  
Throwing of popcorn and pillows ensued.  
  


  
In the morning Jensen and Jared made their way to Jared’s mom’s house to say goodbye one last time. Jared’s mom packed them a cooler full of sandwiches and snacks that Jared very happily put between the front seats. He kissed and hugged his mom and sister goodbye before getting into the passenger seat with Jensen driving and Sadie in the backseat.  
  
“Ready?” Jensen asked, a smile stealing his face.  
  
“Hell yeah,” Jared answered.  
  
It took them four days, too many to count pitstops, a couple motels and lots of junk food and caffeine but they finally arrived to their empty home in Austin.  
  
Jared couldn’t believe they actually did it, they were standing in their home. His and Jensen’s. And Sadie’s who had been jumping around, barking, and running in circles since they’d gotten home, happy to finally be out of the car after the very long four days. The guys walked to their back door and opened it to their backyard, it was dark but the moon lit the bushes lining the fence in a beautiful way. Sadie bolted out from behind them, exploring every inch of the yard and marking her territory.  
  
“Crazy dog,” Jared scoffed, smiling so wide his dimples cut deep into his cheeks. He threw his arm around Jensen’s shoulders and pulled him in close, placing a kiss to his head, “We’re finally home.”  
  
They turned and looked at their empty living room, not a single piece of furniture, just the bags they’d grabbed from the car. A fresh start, Jared thought. He looked at the walls that would need to be painted, he thought about how an argument would ensue about paint colors and it made him laugh. He was excited, he was happy and he felt like he was dreaming.  
  
Jensen pulled him towards the front door, “Come on, let’s grab the mattress.”  
  
“What? No, I’m tired. I don’t want to start moving everything in ‘til mornin’,” Jared whined.  
  
Jensen turned, placed his hands to cradle Jared’s face, “Okay then what? You gonna sleep on the hard floor tonight?”  
  
Jared sighed and walked out the front door to the trailer they’d piled all their stuff in. He opened the trailer and slitted along the side towards the front was their mattress, he turned to Jensen, “You packed it so it’d be easy to get to.”  
  
Jensen smiled, “I’m not an idiot, Jared. I knew we’d need something to sleep on when we got here.”  
  
Tiredly Jared walked back to where Jensen was standing and kissed him, pulled at his lips with his own and stroked at his cheek with his thumb.  
  
“This is why I love you,” Jared whispered.  
  
Jensen rolled his eyes and walked to the trailer, “Come on before you start writing me poetry because I also filled the cooler with fresh ice before we left the motel this morning.”  
  
“Marry me,” Jared drawled.  
  
The night air filled with laughter as Jared helped Jensen pull the mattress from the truck and carry it inside. They plopped it down in the middle of the living room, Jensen ran back to the trailer to close and lock it up bringing pillows and a blanket he’d stashed away too. When he arrived back inside he found Jared already stretched out on his belly, head resting on his arms. Jensen knelt down beside Jared and ran his hands up under Jared’s shirt to his shoulders. His muscles were tense and firm under his hands and he worked to try and ease them. Jared hummed in response loving the feel of Jensen’s hands on his skin, “Feels so good, Jensen.”  
  
Jensen smiled and continued working his hands, he moved lower working the small of Jared’s back and his sides. Jared’s back dipped perfectly before a succulent, round ass, Jensen slipped his fingers into Jared’s waistband and tugged, exposing the top of Jared’s ass. He bent down and pressed his lips to the soft skin there causing Jared to shiver. Want burned deep inside Jensen as he swung his legs over Jared’s and bent low, dragging his nose and mouth up Jared’s back until he was pressed against his whole body. He buried his face in Jared’s hair, finding the skin of his neck with his mouth and tasting.  
  
Jared groaned, “Oh fuck, Jensen, what has gotten into you?” Jensen nipped at Jared’s ear and rocked his hips against Jared’s ass, “Wait, are you serious?” Jared asked, anticipation and excitement filling him to the brim at the thought of what Jensen was propositioning.  
  
“If you want to,” Jensen growled, low and heavy in Jared’s ear with another roll of his hips.  
  
Jared wanted to, he really, really wanted to, he had wanted to for a long time but knew that Jensen wasn’t up for it yet. But here, now, in their own home, it was perfect and Jared’s cock went from half hard to rock hard at the thought of it.  
  
“Yes,” Jared managed to breathe out, “do whatever you want, please.”  
  
Jensen stiffened for a moment at Jared’s admission then quickly moved down his body and sat up on his heels, “Up,” Jensen said as he pat the side of Jared’s hips. Jared quickly followed, raising himself up to a kneeling position, still slightly stuck underneath Jensen. Jensen moved his hands down Jared’s belly to his jeans, he undid the button and zipper then moved to pull Jared’s shirt off before pushing Jared back down against the mattress. Jared’s jeans were quickly pulled away as well, Jensen bit his way down to Jared’s ass, soft nips to his inner thighs. Jensen spread him, digging his fingers into each round mound of Jared’s ass before dipping his head and teasing his hole with his tongue.  
  
Jared let out a harsh breath at the sensation as Jensen continued teasing with his tongue. He worked long and slow, opening Jared with his tongue before grabbing the lube from his backpack and liberally coating his fingers. Jensen placed a loving kiss to Jared’s hip, draped one of his arms over the small of Jared’s back and then gently pushed a finger against Jared’s tight hole.  
  
It went very slow, Jared gripped the mattress tightly with his fingers at the penetration, not quite pleasurable but no pain and he loved that Jensen, even just a little part of him, was inside him.  
  
When Jensen’s finger was all the way in he moved it slightly, rubbing gently inside, Jared let out a gasp, “Oh fuck.”  
  
Jensen froze, “Oh fuck, good? Or oh fuck, bad?”  
  
“Oh fuck, don’t fucking stop,” Jared moaned. Jensen smirked and continued working Jared open with his finger, placing soothing kisses to every inch of open skin he could reach.  
  
He pulled his finger out and repositioned himself, hand still between Jared’s legs, ready to push back in and he lay alongside Jared, pressing his face to Jared’s neck, Jared’s chocolate hair tickling his face.  
  
On the push in with two fingers he whispered, voice coated with honey, “‘s gonna feel even better when it’s all of me.”  
  
Jared moaned, throwing his head back, exposing his neck more to Jensen to bite at.  
  
Before long Jared was pushing back against Jensen’s fingers needing more and Jensen’s pants had grown tight against his erection. Jensen carefully pulled his fingers out of Jared and tore off his pants, grabbed the lube and poured a generous amount on, slicking him completely.  
  
“Flip over,” Jensen whispered in Jared’s ear before placing a soft kiss to his head. Jared, almost completely strung out on pleasure, complied and turned over onto his back. Jensen grabbed him by the hips and pulled him close, resting his ass on Jensen’s thighs before slowly pushing in.  
  
Jared let out an uncontrollable yelp at the intrusion, never being stretched quite so far before but he motioned for Jensen to keep going until he was buried completely, deep inside Jared. Eyes shut tight, Jared breathed slowly, willing himself to open up more.  
  
“Okay?” Jensen asked trying hard to keep himself steady and not pull out just to ram back in which is what his body was crying for. Keeping his eyes shut tight, Jared nodded his head. Jensen bent low, wrapped his arms around Jared and kept from rocking his hips.  
  
“We can stop,” Jensen offered, kissing Jared softly along his jaw.  
  
“Oh god, no,” Jared breathed out, relaxing a bit in Jensen’s arms and chuckled finding his mouth and kissed him slowly.    
  
Moving just his hips, keeping his focus on Jared, he pulled out a little and pushed back in, twisting. Jared moaned in response, heating Jensen from the inside, instincts took over and Jensen pulled out again, pushing in a little faster. On each pull and push of Jensen’s hips, Jared moaned a little louder until he was clawing at Jensen’s back and yelling Jensen’s name over and over.  
  
The heat of Jared’s body, sweat, and the sound of his own name on Jared’s lips sent Jensen into overdrive. He rocked his hips against Jared, harder, deeper, faster with each thrust twisting just right to drag across the sweet, sensitive spot, deep inside Jared. Jared held himself closer to Jensen, pushing into him on each thrust and found his lips with his own. The two men kissed, desperate and needy as tongues mapped out each other’s mouths, sharp bites of teeth on lips, and Jensen hummed, sending vibrations throughout Jared’s whole being.  
  
Jensen brought his hand to Jared’s throbbing cock that had been pressed between them leaking pre-come, he ran his hand over it, stroking it in rhythm with his thrusts. Jared threw his head back and howled at Jensen’s touch, so close to the edge of orgasm, waves of pleasure sweeping over his body.  
  
“Oh fuck,” he cried, “fuck, Jensen, jesus fucking christ, Jensen, Jensen...” An orgasm ripped through Jared from deep within his belly, sending his nerves into overdrive, ever inch of his body in complete pleasure as his cock spilled over Jensen’s fist and his own belly. In moments Jensen’s body went rigid, he buried his face into Jared’s chest, breathing him in as his own orgasm took over filling Jared with hot come, deep inside him.  
  
The two men laid there, heavy breathing, coming down from an insane pleasure high, nothing to be heard but their hearts thrumming in their chests and blood rushing in their ears. Jensen laid his cheek flat to Jared’s chest and took in a deep breath, completely content to be in their new home, with his best friend, his lover, his soulmate and in this moment of time, no worries.  
  
As their sweat cooled and their come dried, they shared lazy kisses and soft smiles, laying in each other’s arms.  
  
Jensen propped up on his elbow, “Okay, so now we know why you always top.”  
  
“Why’s that?” Jared laughed, eyes wide.  
  
“Because as a bottom you are really fucking loud!” Jensen exclaimed.  
  
Jared burst out into a fit of laughter, “I am not that loud.”  
  
“No, you definitely are ridiculously loud. At one point I was afraid that one of our new neighbors was going to come and see who was being tortured.”  
  
Jared laughed even louder, “Wow, I had no idea.”  
  
Sadie barked from outside causing Jensen to jump, he looked over and she was sitting just outside the door thumping her tail on the ground, tongue hanging out the side of her mouth as she panted. Jensen jumped up to let her in and she immediately ran over to the mattress on the floor and laid her head on it near one of Jared’s arms.  
  
“You silly girl,” Jared crooned, turning over as he pet and scratched her behind the ears. Jensen joined them on the mattress, fitting himself along Jared’s back, draping his arm around Jared’s waist and pressed kisses to the back of Jared’s neck.  
  
“We’re going to need to buy some furniture,” Jared said after a few minutes.  
  
Jensen looked up at their completely empty house, “What you don’t think a mattress on the floor in the middle of our living room is good enough?”  
  
Jared turned so he was facing Jensen, placed a loving kiss to his lips and answered, “A house is just a house until we make it a home.”  
  
They broke out into uncontrollable laughter, tears formed in Jensen’s eyes and Sadie pawed her way onto the mattress at the excitement.  
  
This was it. This was happiness. And it couldn’t have been better.  
  
  
  
 ** **  
****


End file.
